Casting Director Renee Godbout talks about casting a character who's no longer living.

I mainly cast extras, but that doesn't mean I cast the actors seen walking around in the background. I also have to cast actors seen in photos on a set. I'm currently working on a film starring Robert DeNiro. It's the story of a man reconnecting with his children after his wife has passed away, and my job now is to cast that wife. Sounds simple, right? Not exactly.

The role of the wife is considered to be a featured extra, which means the director wants to pick this person himself. Photos may seem insignificant, but when there's a moment that the main character is staring deeply at a photo, the audience has to relate to his pain and it matters whose face he is looking at. For this film, I was given a specific description of a blonde PTA mom character.

I collected photos of women that fit the description and age. When I brought them to the office for the director to look at, he decided he wanted brunettes instead. They wanted multiple pictures before making a decision. Someone's home wouldn't have just one photo of the wife, so the film wanted photos to cut and paste together to form the wife's entire life.

I asked a few actresses to submit photos of themselves in their teens, 20s, 30s, and so on. The director wanted to see family dinners, their prom, wedding photos, and more. For me, I knew that the selection of this character would be more important than any other extra I had to find. The director obviously already had an idea in his head and it was my job to make it come to life.

The director looked carefully at each photo, imagining what the actress would look like standing next to Robert DeNiro. After thoroughly reviewing all of the photos, he finally selected the actress he wanted to use.

It was fun calling her and telling her she'll be playing Robert DeNiro's wife! I'd love to see a photo of myself with Robert DeNiro's arm wrapped around me.

Renee Godbout - Freelance Casting Director. Renee Godbout recently worked on the first season of The CW's popular teen show Gossip Girl at Grant Wilfey Casting. Some past projects include 2 seasons of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, the pilot for Dirty Sexy Money, and the upcoming Jonathan Demme-directed Dancing with Shiva.