![]() Now you don’t even have to street scout, because they have agencies, and Instagram’s filled, and every client’s brief says ‘We want someone that has unique beauty’. This is the world that I envisioned 20 years ago - where we have these eclectic ideas of beauty, and less ‘You have to fit in this box’ conformity where Vogue is putting ethnic women of a certain body type on the cover, and there’s real people. Now that seems normal, but this was 20 years ago. I put it together and W Magazine said, ‘Do you want to keep doing this for us?’. So I went out on the street and found everything from a homeless mom and daughter, to a daughter of a famous artist, to a model, to an older woman – it was very eclectic. No one was really doing it at the time, except a few other people. That became frustrating, and I quit.Ī friend of mine was becoming a successful photographer and shooting for W Magazine, and he knew that I loved people - I was always saying, ‘That person’s amazing’ - and he said ‘Do you want to cast it?’ This was before street scouting was a big thing. It was the end of the supermodel, and then it was all about ‘heroin chic’ - but it was all just a type. It was the ‘90s, and it was just one type of person wearing clothes, really an archetype: very tall, white, skinny. Having been such a people-watcher, I was really uninspired in the fashion industry. Jennifer Venditti: I was in fashion before this, and I was really frustrated by how limited the ideas of beauty were there. FIND BEAUTY IN UNEXPECTED PLACES AND THINGS I love to explore what it means to be human to think about the psychology of it, the visual mannerisms of it - just everything. Even if I didn’t do what I do, I’ve always loved to observe people. I didn’t set out to be a casting director. I never really watched TV or movies, or got into the cartoons that everyone watched, but I loved to go to airports, hospitals, train stations, malls - anywhere there were groups of people. ![]() I’m obsessed with observing what it is to be human. Jennifer Venditti: As a kid, I was an avid people-watcher. Speaking to Jennifer after a long day of Euphoria auditions (“Please say the casting call is closed!” she exclaims over the phone, “I hope we don’t get an influx of British people sending things to us”), Dazed took some lessons from the master herself on how to cast the net wide. It’s this ‘anything is possible and everyone is welcome’ approach that sets Venditti apart, making her the perfect match for adventurous and ambitious filmmakers like Andrea Arnold, Alma Har’el, and the Safdie brothers. Instead, she taps into both mainstream sources and non-traditional approaches to arrive at a wonderful mix of professionals and first-timers. ![]() Venditti doesn’t refuse professional actors - it’s just that she doesn’t limit herself to that pool. They have a knack for spotting undiscovered talents - uncut gems, if you will - wherever they may appear, from Tulsa strip clubs and Walmart parking lots to the streets of New York, or, simply, the Internet. JV8 is known for their broad and open approach, and are particularly renowned for their work in street casting and online scouting for first-time actors. Since founding talent agency JV8 INC in 1998, Venditti has become one of the most sought-after casting directors in the business. More specifically, if you’re talking about Euphoria, Uncut Gems, Honey Boy, Good Time, American Honey, Lost River, Where the Wild Things Are or Heaven Knows What ( among others), thank Jennifer Venditti. Some newcomer you’d never heard of before is your new favourite actor? Shout out to the casting director. A world felt populated by believable characters? Casting director, you’re a real one. An ensemble had great chemistry? Thank the casting director. Often, when we praise a film or series, we praise its casting without realising it.
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