Casting Director Renee Godbout on the constant changes that takes place during filming.

Last year I cast the extras for the ABC pilot of Dirty Sexy Money, which stars Peter Krause, Donald Sutherland, Billy Baldwin, and Samaire Armstrong. I loved the script and was so excited to work on it! Some of the scenes called for featured extras to be hand-picked by the director, including about 6 men who were playing Liberians. Luckily, the director loved all of the actors I sent in for interviews.

The scenes shot at the mansion were gorgeous. In addition to the Liberians, I had also cast an upscale party with child ballerinas, and upper-crust guests. The wardrobe was amazing and most of my actors were personally fit for ball gowns.

When shooting was finally complete, I couldn't wait to find out if the show was going to get picked up! The buzz was good and no one seemed surprised when it received the order for 13 episodes. I marked on my calendar the premiere date and waited patiently for the fall to come.

An opportunity arose to see an advance screening of it at the Paley Museum of TV and Radio. I jumped at the chance to see it. There had definitely been some changes, but my Liberians were still front and center, as well as the party scenes! I excitedly called family members and friends and told them to tune into the ABC premiere.

When the show finally premiered on ABC, I was at home and after seeing the episode, I was so glad no one was there with me! You see, the version that actually aired was a reworked episode using scenes reshot in LA! They had to build a new mansion and instead of matching the New York one exactly, they just reshot all the scenes. My party scene was replaced with a new one, identical to mine but with actors from the West Coast. My only featured extras to make the cut were my Liberians!

My family and friends called to congratulate me on a job well done. I didn't want to spoil the moment, so I took the accolades didn't mention the switch to anyone... No reason to share that bit of information!

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.