Killer Casting

Lisa and Dean ring out the old year reminiscing on their favorite tv shows of 2024 and what they are looking forward to in 2025. Ease your way out of the holidays and into the New Year with Killer Casting. In this episode of Killer Casting, host Lisa Zambetti and co-host Dean Laffin discuss their favorite shows and movies of 2024 and share what they are looking forward to in 2025. They talk about...

Lisa sits down with the creative team for "Brooklyn's Way" a play she cast that is premiering at Theatre 68 in North Hollywood starting SATURDAY SEPT 7th, running through October 13th.   "Brooklyn's Way" is a funny, sharp, painfully romantic story based on Sam Henry Kass' real life as a jaded television writer who is blindsided when he meeds a young, smart writer's assistant on her way up in the w...

Midsummer Media Mania: From House of the Dragon to Reality TV Lisa and Dean are back with a Mid-Summer check in on all they are watching and all they anticipate to watch this coming fall season. They dive into the most recent episode of Season 2 of "House of the Dragon", Lisa reviewes her current fav British show "The Responder" starring Martin Freeman, Dean gets super jazzed about the upcoming in...

Yes Chef!   Adam Shapiro from "The Bear" is HERE!   The hilarious actor (and pretzel king) Adam Shapiro is here! Well, not just here on Killer Casting, he was there at UCLA to speak with Lisa and her amazing senior acting students about his prolific career in film ("She Said", "Mank", "Steve Jobs",  television ("Never Have I Ever", "The Continental", "The Affair") and theatre.   Lisa asks Adam the...

The Netflix series "Baby Reindeer" written by Scottish comedian Richard Gadd based on the true story of a period in his life when he was stalked by a woman whom he gave a free cup of tea while working as a bartender in London, has been burning itself into the eyeballs and psyches of millions of people. Lisa was fascinated by the hit show's unflinching honesty, style, structure and incredible perfo...

If you watched this year's Superbowl, chances are you (and 123 million people) saw my guest Tony Robinette in the Dunkin Donuts commerical starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, and a slew of other cameos. That high profile spot capped off an incredible year of work for Tony, who has defied all odds to become one of the busiest actors in Hollywood (who you may not have heard of...yet). Despite two...

📍Well look who took time out of his busy schedule coaching A-List actors like🤩 Bradley Cooper, Michelle Williams, Kerry Washington, Brad Pitt, Salma Hayek and Austin Butler to sit down with Lisa and talk about the craft of acting, 🎭 the Oscars 🏆and also the new edition of his book 📖 "Fine on Acting: A Vision of the Craft", none other than legendary acting teacher Howard Fine!  Howard and Lisa...

Sometimes Lisa needs to remind herself why she ever wanted to do casting in the first place and it is because of incredible casting directors like her mentor Emily Schweber 💕who exposed her to artists like the filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro. Both Emily and Andrea are her guests today to talk about a very special project. Lisa assisted Emily on casting Andrea's first film the evocative award-winning "M...

Lisa woke up this morning realizing she is WAY behind on her Oscar nomination watching! Like, she has only seen "Barbie". So to psych herself up to watch all the rest of these performances for all the Best Acting awards at least, Lisa sits down with Oscar savant Paul Sullivan, who has seen EVERY best picture nominee since 1943, to discuss the task she has ahead of her. Paul gives Lisa a little pre...

She IS awake ! ... and so are we!  Well folks it is time for all one-eyed polar bears to make their way off to that ice cave for a big long snooze, because Issa, Jodie, Kali, Finn and team … including Fiona ( I gut coyotes and polish my rifles on New Year's Eve for fun) Shaw are delivering us from the darkness of our wildest conspiracy theories, into the light (see what I did there?) of clarity. W...

Well that was unexpected ! Issa and crew certainly delivered a shock ending. Farewell Hank ... thanks for the cool tune on the way out. Lisa and Dean cover off on all the aspects you'd imagine ... and some you wont expect. Peter and Liz have worst New Year's Eve ever (though it must be said, it was even worse for Hank and Heiss. We're still being kept in the dark (see what I did there?) about whet...

QUESTIONS: Are Rose, Liz and Eve actually seeing these ghosts or is it a mental illness ? Is it Danvers or Navarro that executes William Wheeler ? Has Hank accepted his inner Catfish? Will Liz and Ted find an even MORE uncomfortable ways to have sex ? Where do all these tropical oranges come from in the Arctic tundra ? Can Peter find even more ways to toast his marriage to the exceedingly patient...

LEAH MCKENDRICK - WRITER, DIRECTOR AND STAR OF THE NEW LIONSGATE MOVIE "SCRAMBLED".   One day you are an actress in Los Angeles, grinding away, trying to get that first TV co-star credit, fast forward through some bloody, sweaty and tearful years and BOOM you are STARRING in a feature film for Lionsgate that you WROTE and also DIRECTED. Please welcome my guest actor/director/writer Leah McKendrick...

Lisa and Dean delve into the depths and profundity ofTrue Detective: Night Episode 3. How is Kali Reis in her third only role SMASHING it, up against the legend that is Jodie Foster ? Peter wants to know 'Who is Mrs. Robinson ?" (Snicker) WT ACTUAL  F is going on with Liz and Eve at William Wheeler's crummy, homicidal shack ? When Navarro slips on the ice and has a vision of Liz's son Holden, why...

We all know how much Dean likes to run his mouth and be a smarty pants, especially with all the minutiae that he jazzes on joining dots hither and yon. There was SO much to unpack in Episode 2 that even though we spent an hour with the legend Joel Montgrand, we still couldn't cover all the twists and turns in that episode.   So if you don't dig the digging deep, give this one a miss. But of you li...

You knew that Lisa and Dean were already VERY excited about True Detective: Night Country   … but today that excitement was ramped up to level infinity because we are joined in the pod today by one of those actors who despite their role being nominally a recurring co-star, they simply steal your eyeballs in every scene they are in. And don't take our word for it … after his filming was finished an...

  Aaaaaaaand that's a wrap folks !   To breakdown the operatic finale of Fargo Season 5, Lisa and Dean are ecstatic to be joined by the man, the myth, the legend himself, renowned acting coach/teacher Terry Knickerbocker.   From his incredible Brooklyn based studio, Terry has worked with actors from beginners, all the way to Hollywood A-Listers such as; Chris Messina (Newsroom, I Care A Lot, The M...

Lace your snow boots up nice and tight, snuggle into that down parka  and scrunch your hat on good and proper because Lisa and Dean are leading you into their recap of the first episode of the much awaited fourth season of True Detective. After three series by Nic Pizzolatto, new Showrunner Issa Lopez has some big boots to fill ... can she do it?  What sensibilities will her esoteric Guillermo del...

Lisa is thrilled to be joined by three wonderful actors who you need to know about! Carey Cox recurs on "The Handmaid's Tale" as Rose Blaine, Joseph Kibler has acted on shows like "Criminal Minds" "Good Trouble" "Chicago Med" and Leah Rachel is model, dancer, actress   performing all over London on both stage and screen. What do these three artists have in common? In addition to being talented, th...

Here we are in the penultimate episode of the season and the forces are amassing for the big showdown. Tillman's lost his mojo and maybe his mind as all the chess pieces make their final moves. Lisa and Dean break it all down. One of us thinks the tension is delicious, one of us thinks the episode may have lost the plot in some key moments.   Join us for the conversation. Subscribe and share! Plea...

FARGO SEASON 5 - EPISODE 8 "Blanket" Recap TRIGGER WARNING: Due to the graphic depiction of domestic violence and coercive control in Episode 8, our discussion contains equally graphic descriptions that may be upsetting. Please exercise caution when listening.   Lisa and Dean react to this traumatizing and powerful episode which delivers the confrontation we all knew was coming: a death match show...

Just in the St. Nick of time! Whilst we are still enjoying our "twixtmas" haze on the couch lounging around scrolling for something fun to watch with family and friends before the New Year is upon us and we are back from holiday break (if you were lucky enough to have one!) here is THE DEAN'S LIST of holiday movies to enjoy before all is said and done. Dean has listed from "Nice" to "Naughty" his...

Life is a dream, well at least for Dot much of this episode IS which causes Lisa and Dean to have MANY thoughts about the story telling conventions that Fargo Season 5, Episode 7 is putting us through. We are on the road with Dot (Juno Temple) as she desperately searches for the one person she thinks can help her stop Sheriff Tillman (Jon Hamm) , that being his first wife, the mysterious Linda. (K...

AGENT JOAQUIN is in the house! Joining Lisa to breakdown Fargo Season 5 Episode 6 "The Tender Trap" is none other than actor Nick Gomez who recurs as FBI Agent Joaquin this season and who got a front row seat up close and personal in the Jon Hamm in the Hot tub scene. Before we dive into this episode, Lisa talks about casting Nick on Criminal Minds as a Detective and the behind the scenes process....

("The Tiger" aka The Power Suit Episode) Helping them cover Fargo Season 5, Episode 5, Lisa & Dean are thrilled to be joined by special guest Scott Winant, a two-time Emmy award-winning director and producer who has worked on high-profile shows like Breaking Bad, True Blood, Yellowjackets and …Season 1 of FARGO! (How many people get to say they've directed Key and Peele as FBI Agents? Well Scott h...