ONE LIFE TO LIVE: The Casting Directors - Looking for Diversity: Julie Madison & Victoria Visiglio

Daytime soaps appeal to a fantasy life‹perhaps unlike any other TV genre, suggest "One Life to Live" 's casting directors, Julie Madison and her associate, Victoria Visiglio. "It's a world the viewer wants to be part of. And it attracts her in the same way as playing with a Barbie doll." So asserts Madison, acknowledging that the stereotypical soap opera type, "The Ivory Snow girl," is alive and well. Still, there is a latitude in casting today that would have been unheard of years ago.
"Soaps reflect the changing values of society," says Madison. "So while many of the contract players [the principals] continue to be attractive in a conventional way‹that's just being realistic‹that doesn't mean that everyone has to be cookie-cutter beautiful. For every two conventionally beautiful actors we cast, we'll have two who are not. There's certainly a lot more leeway with the day players and extras. They represent a real cross-section in terms of race, ethnicity, and age."
But then there's no shortage of diversity at "One Life to Live." In 1968 when it first hit the airwaves, the show was among the first daytime dramas to feature a blue-collar family, an Irish Catholic clan, and a Jewish family. And today's leads continue the tradition.
"We're also very drawn to actors who are strong, sexy, or outgoing, even if they're not conventionally beautiful," notes Madison. "We've found that audiences today find characters like that‹those that are good inside‹especially appealing."
The casting director's dream, assert Madison and Visiglio, is to find that new person who will create a stir, someone who will bring that unexpected energy‹that "offbeat New York pizzazz," says Madison‹to the show. And to that end "One Life to Live" 's actors, especially the day players, come on board with an array of backgrounds and resume credits. Some were models, others were active on the showcase circuit. Both Madison and Visiglio maintain they do attend showcases in search of that elusive talent. And that, in fact, many of their players‹particularly the under-fives‹frequently come from that pool.
"I cast from various sources," remarks Visiglio. "Either their pictures and resumes have been sent to me by agents, managers, or by the actors themselves. Or I've seen them in showcases."
Interestingly, Visiglio routinely has those "under-five" actors audition with scenes featuring many more than five lines. It's a way of gauging the actor's potential for recurring appearances or even larger roles down the road, she says. A number of these actors who started as occasional under-five-ers are now appearing as regulars in the police precinct and newsroom scenes.
Both Madison and Visiglio suggest that working on a soap even in the smallest roles is terrific experience, especially for newcomers.