Pitt students seek fame in casting call

Freshman Ashleigh Kuhn got the chance to audition for her favorite soap opera.

She was one… Freshman Ashleigh Kuhn got the chance to audition for her favorite soap opera.

She was one of hundreds of students who auditioned for “As the World Turns” Thursday.

Kuhn said she heard about the casting call during the summer from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and was anxiously waiting since then for the audition.

“I did a lot of theater productions in high school,” Kuhn said, but added that she had never done any television work.

She said she felt that working, even as an extra, on “As the World Turns” would be a great resume builder and “a good thing to point out” to her friends while watching the show.

Students were invited to audition for parts between 10 a.m. and noon. Pitt faculty and staff and the general public also got their chance, auditioning between noon and 1 p.m., and 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. respectively.

Students started showing up at 9:30 a.m. and were told to form a line inside a fenced area outside of the William Pitt Union.

They filled out surveys detailing any experience they might have as well as physical descriptions such as their height, weight and hair color.

Some students were individually called inside the trailer and were asked to read one of three possible scripts with the casting director. Other students dropped off their photos and survey and were told they would be called if the casting director was interested in them.

Many of the students had acting experience.

Jennifer Julian, a junior and theater major, acted in community theater and in 20 plays and musicals, which she included in her resume. She said she’s been an extra on a commercial before, but is interested in a theater career, not television. She said her reason for auditioning was that it would look good on her resume.

Senior Jennifer Green, although not interested in an acting career, said it would be interesting to see what happens during the filming of a television show.

After his audition, senior Thomas Watkiss said that the casting director was encouraging.

“But you know,” Watkiss said, “it’s show business. It’s phony.”

Alan G. Locher, the publicist for “As the World Turns,” said that faculty and staff, as well as older members of the general public, were looked on as possible parents for the scene but will not have speaking roles.

When asked to comment, most staff members declined and no faculty or staff wished to be identified. One advancement administrative assistant for Pitt, however, said that she didn’t have any acting experience but had been an extra once. She refused to give her name or department.

The soap opera will be going to 10 different college campuses looking for parts. Pitt was its fourth stop.

Each college will play a part in the soap opera’s plot line for Aaron, Lucy and Alison, the three young characters.

Locher gave a brief description of the plot line: Aaron will be accused of starting a fire that will injure the son of the chief of police, and Lucy and Alison will help him flee town because they believe in his innocence.

They go to different college campuses to blend in while being chased by the chief of police, Locher said.

At Pitt, Lucy’s aunt and uncle, Katy and Simon, catch up to them. This scene will be shot Thursday, Sept. 19, in front of the Frick Fine Arts Building.

Two lead roles were available and two roles that have less than five lines. The casting director, Mary Clay Boland, said she was also looking for 20 extras.

Boland said that she looked for someone who was natural while speaking his or her lines for the speaking parts and for a variety of looks for the extras.

Experience, she said, wasn’t necessary. In fact, she cast a lead role at Ohio State University to a female with no prior acting experience.

Boland said lead roles could expect to receive about $700 for the day. The five-line roles and the extras would get about $340 and $100, respectively, for the day.

Boland said calls to those who got a part were going to be made after 6 p.m. Thursday.