Fiona McIntyre
photograph courtesy of Fiona McIntyre
Besides being an incredible person to talk to, Fiona McIntyre (she/her) is a casting associate at Brette Goldstein Casting, a coach, and a podcast host. Check out her podcast What’s Your Backup Plan? on the Broadway Podcast Network here on Spotify (or here on Apple podcasts). After graduating with a BFA from the musical theatre program at Montclair State University Fiona saw success as an actor, but after a few years of working realized that she wanted to make the switch to casting. As she says herself, she loves “being able to facilitate opportunities, especially opportunities for diversity and equity and representation”. Read about her journey and the ways she’s ensuring an equitable experience in the workplace through the casting process, and I promise you’ll feel inspired.
When people ask you, “what do you do?” what do you usually tell them?
I am a casting associate and a coach and a podcast host.
Do you still identify as an actor or not really, anymore?
No. You know when I decided that I wanted to do casting, a dear friend, a mentor casting director of mine, said for the most part — some people make it work to do both— but really, it would be helpful to do some sort of practice of letting that go. So that you can really focus on casting and you can be there for the actors and offices don't have to worry about you coming in as an actor while also being in casting. So she's like, find something that you can do for yourself to feel like you're letting that go. After she said that to me I donated all of my dancewear, and I recycled my headshots . . . so I am not an actor. It feels pretty good after a long time of identifying as that and having some success in some ways and struggling in other ways. It feels good for me to be the one to choose to let that go, and it felt like the right time.
Why do you especially love what you do now as a casting associate?
I love being able to facilitate opportunities, especially opportunities for diversity and equity and representation. I love being able to help actors feel empowered. I love storytelling. And I think as cheesy as that sounds— we all love telling stories— but really like, since I was young, I love telling stories. I have a mom who is a writer, and I think it's in my bones.
I was tired of only being able to tell stories of people who look and sound and act like me and have backgrounds like my own, and while those stories are important, they weren't the most important stories. And I was thinking about the impact I wanted to make, and I realized that the stories that I was telling on stage, because I was primarily working as a stage actor, weren't as impactful as the stories that I might be able to help be a part of. I thought those stories were more in line with my beliefs and my values. So yeah, I think the long and short of that is my favorite thing is being able to find the right person to tell the right story sometimes in an unexpected way.
Can you take us through your journey up till now? What were the twists and turns you didn’t expect, and what are the things that looking back on now you’re like, this all led me here?
It is no secret that our industry is going through a lot of change, and that there is a lot of reckoning we have to do with ourselves with what has been done for so long. And how just because it has been done one way for so long, that doesn't make it right, that doesn't make it the fair, just, equal thing to do.
How are we going to take everything we’ve learned about ourselves, and our industry, back into it as it revs up again? How do you feel the entertainment industry changing from your perspective as a casting director?
I have a lot of feelings about this. I think that one of the best things, even though a lot of my actor friends will disagree with me, that came out of the pandemic was, for me as a casting associate, being able to see self-tapes. Being able to see 250 people for one role instead of 30 people for one role. So in doing that, we're not limiting ourselves to the options that are: people we know, or people we've worked with before, or people with the best agents. We were able to say, “Oh, I don’t know, that person that's a fresh face! What could they bring to this?” while watching self-tapes.
And what I would love is to be able to have that opportunity as things continue to reopen, as additions move back into being in person. I think that there is so much in the way of people being able to show their art and show their talents. And I think that a lot of it has to do with how much money you grew up, with what college you went to, whether you have to work a survival job till four in the morning. I don't think that is fair. And I acknowledge that I have had some of those privileges growing up, and just because I can finish work at 7 pm, and get a good night's rest and do a great audition the next day, doesn't mean that I should be considered over somebody else who's not as privileged. So I hope that as we change, we can keep finding new ways to broaden our bubble of who we bring in for projects for directors and producers to expand their vision of how they see a certain character so that we're not seeing the same small group of people we've been seeing forever.
I think the whole push for diversity and equity isn't going to happen until we stop putting these barriers in place— like having the greatest agent or taking the most expensive classes. We need to find a way to see more talent. Honestly, I think why not make first-round tapes for a long time so that we can see people… what if the first round for a play was: you shoot a monologue, you go in your bedroom, and you film one monologue and you send it in for 20 plays, just for someone to see what you do. Or first round for a film, for you to have a scene that you have on tape and you can send it out to whoever is casting the film just so they can have a view of you and who you are and what you do first, before deciding who they want to spend that precious time in the studio with. Because I think if we did that, then we would be surprised with who we’re drawn to. And who we would give that time to if we're able to give everyone the time.
What kinds of stories do you hope to see more of on stage as an audience member?
I hope that there are more stories told that people in the audience can identify with on a broader scale than we have had. I hope that not just people who look like me, like I think of when I want to have a family and when I have children. Yes, I want them to feel like they're represented, but they're already represented in decades and decades and decades of media and theatre and music. I hope that people who have different abilities, different bodies, different ethnicities, different gender identities can start to see themselves represented in a way where they're not being tokenized. You know, I was listening in on a Clubhouse a couple of weeks ago and there was an agent in the Clubhouse, who's working in the UK. And he said that instead of saying “BIPOC” or “people of color” in the UK, they say “global majority”, which means non-white because that is the global majority. So I hope that we have more stories where that global majority is represented, without it having to be a part of the plot that they are “other”.
I also have a brother with a disability and I hope to see more representation on screen and on stage for him. I hope that there are more people who are disabled, who are able to act, who have different backgrounds, and are able to play those characters. So it's authentic representation, but not in a way that makes them feel like they are there to check off a box.
What’s bringing you joy right now?
I think what is bringing me the most joy has been being able to reconnect with people. Seeing my friends in person again, being able to go home to Canada and see my family for the first time in two years, and knowing that's on the horizon. We have been so resilient in the last year of being able to do things on zoom and celebrate milestones and cast movies and do everything we've needed to do. But being back in rooms with people we love, that's bringing me so much joy. And just seeing pictures of my friends on Instagram who are visiting their brother in Kentucky or are with their family in Maine, like that makes me so happy. We are going to be together again safely. And the vaccine. The vaccine brings me joy.
Let’s finish up with some fun speed-round questions! What was the last thing you watched?
Mad Men!
What was the last thing that you read?
Amanda Kloots’s book Live Your Life about Nick Cordero.
Oh wow. Was it good?
It was really good, it was really well written, it was really sad. It had a lot of hope and light in it even though it’s a very sad story.
Last question: if you could tell a younger version of yourself one thing, what would it be?
Your body is not the most interesting thing about you. In fact, your body is probably the least interesting thing about you.
That’s a good one, and a great note to leave this off on. That’s a wrap, thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Fiona.
To learn more about Fiona visit her website.
