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If you’re looking to cast an award-winning show or movie, you’d be hard pressed to find someone better for the job than industry veteran Carmen Cuba. Cuba has been the Casting Director for some of the most innovative projects in recent history, including Ridley Scott‘s The Martian, Netflix megahit Stranger Things, and Prime Video favorite Red Oaks. Regardless of the movie or TV show, Cuba manages to find actors who add something unique to their individual roles while also fitting in remarkably well in the group dynamic.
In September, the Television Academy rewarded Cuba’s excellent work on Stranger Things with a totally-deserved Emmy for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series. Cuba’s win wasn’t really a shock: the show has been praised for its realistic depiction of children, and its massive success launched the careers of stars like Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard. We spoke with the Casting Society of America (CSA) member about how she discovered those then-unknown kids, the pressures of adding in new actors in Season 2, and, of course, Barb.
Let’s start with Eleven. Undoubtedly, Millie Bobby Brown has been the breakout star of Stranger Things. How did you find her? Could you tell from the start that she was going to become an Emmy-nominated superstar?
An agent who knows my taste very well sent me info on her and I was intrigued so we had her tape. She’s based in London so she taped herself and it was amazing — really emotional and intense, lots of tears — and that’s where we started with the process. From there, we had her do additional material, gave her some direction over email, and eventually Skyped with her then brought her to the US to test with our other kids. She did the entire Skype in an American accent and it was so good we didn’t even notice until the very end. Millie was very impressive on all levels.
I don’t think anyone could predict the kind of superstar she would become because none of us imagined the show itself would get the kind of attention that it did. I did think from the start that she was a deeply talented actress and that she had the potential to be someone who did a lot of amazing work in the future.
Did you have a hard time convincing Millie that she would need to shave her head for the role?
We explored the ideas of wigs or not as short of a cut, but Charlize Theron in Mad Max was what the Duffers had in mind, and it was pretty clear to me they weren’t going to settle for less. It was a hurdle that had to be faced, but once Millie committed she was very empowered and excited about it. I think she liked the Charlize idea very much.
What was Finn Wolfhard like in his audition? How did you know that he would make a good ringleader and a good companion to Eleven?
Finn’s first audition was from his bed because he was sick! The tape was also out of focus! But even so, he felt really dynamic and fun. And then we watched a few other audition tapes he did for other projects (one of them was for the Cary Fukunaga version of It) and saw he had great dexterity and range but also had a unique energy that made every performance specific to just him. He had an electricity that for me felt exactly like the real kids I knew at that same age who weren’t actors. It was fun and slightly nutty with a commitment to the mission at hand. And that’s what we thought would make the perfect ringleader. When we had them all in to chemistry read with each other it became even more clear because he basically ran the whole show on his own!
Wolfhard is so funny in It. Do you think the success of Stranger Things played a role in how they cast Wolfhard and the rest of the Losers Club in the film?
The truth is that we almost lost Finn to It because our dates were the same. The movie pushing [back] made us breathe a lot easier because there was a moment when it felt like he might choose a movie with a very special known director over a TV show with two brothers you’d never heard of. I can’t speak to how our show’s success played a role in any It decisions, but I do know that both projects share a deep respect for Stephen King and the stories and characters he weaves, and its clear both have tapped into that in an audience in a very special way.
We have to ask about Barb. Did you have any inkling that Shannon Purser‘s character would go on to be such a phenomenon with fans?
No. That was a huge surprise that in no way any of us could have predicted. This doesn’t mean that the search for the actress to play Barb wasn’t a tough one. The Duffers had a very specific idea for her (as they do for every single role, even one-line roles) so it was something we saw a lot more people for than you would expect. But once we saw Shannon it was pretty clear she was our girl. She was singular and strong yet still so young — she was still in high school! — and really seemed to connect with the material. And I think that’s why the audience loves her, she understood this character in a real way. She didn’t feel like a Hollywood version of Barb, she felt like every Barb from our childhoods.
Gaten Matarazzo is a fan favorite as the lovable Dustin. Did you see him and think that he was immediately right for the role?
Gaten first read for Mike, and we were instantly in love and knew we needed him in the show. But because Finn seemed somehow more right as Mike and we didn’t yet have a Lucas, we then tried him as Lucas. And of course we loved him for that too! And then once Caleb [McLaughlin] came into the picture and was so naturally a Lucas, it just made sense for Gaten to be our Dustin. We really were casting a group and not just role by role and it came together with these three in a very natural and easy way. The one thing we knew from the beginning with Gaten is that we were gonna have him somewhere no matter what!
The show has openly addressed Gaten’s disability by writing it into Dustin’s character. What was it like to work with the Duffer brothers as they decided to write in his disability?
The disability thing actually never came up until the very final chemistry read. I believe he had a dental surgery coming up and his parents let us know about his cleidocranial dysplasia and nobody blinked an eye. It didn’t feel like it was something that HAD to be written into his character because it’s not actually noticeable in a tangible way, but once he collapsed his shoulder blades and collarbones to show us it seemed to the Duffers that it was something that would also make Dustin that much more Dustin! Because really Gaten was so great that we just hoped Dustin was half as lovable and interesting as Gaten.
There are a few new characters joining the Stranger Things ensemble this season. Was it easier to find new actors now that the show is so well known?
We started the conversation about a couple of the main roles a few weeks before the show came out. July 15th the show came out, and on July 18th I reached out to our top choice for one of our bigger new roles. By 6:30pm that night the actor had seen it and loved it and agreed to meet with the Duffers the very next morning. The meeting went great and it was their dream casting! So I don’t think it hurt that the show was building momentum.
And as far as the others go, I don’t think it was easier because the show was more well-known. I think maybe it was even harder in a way because the actors were so strong that we now knew we had a very hard task ahead of us. The searches felt just as intense, but once we saw the tapes we once again knew we had found some magic.
Were you concerned about throwing these new actors into the mix with a cast that is clearly very close?
I didn’t worry about this, honestly. The kids were definitely going through a very dynamic fame explosion at the time that we were casting and it was clear they were getting even closer, but they knew new kids were coming and seemed very excited. My primary concern was that the new actors needed to be very strong in their own right and that was actually the most daunting aspect of it. I knew that if they were as strong as the original cast that the original cast would respect and welcome them with open arms. And they did!
Stranger Things fans have praised the show for casting kids that look like kids rather than beautiful small adults. Is this a goal for you and the Duffer Brothers?
I find that most kids actually have a singularity to them that isn’t actually represented in kid casting. I think that traditionally kids who look a particular way—“cute” and “all-American” are typical words used to describe what I mean—are encouraged to pursue acting and modeling and it results in a somewhat homogenous representation of what a kid looks like. We definitely did not want that. We all remembered our childhood selves and wanted to replicate the awkward transitional beauty we experienced.
Speaking of homogeneity, has the push to include more diversity on screen affected how you see your role in the industry?
I’ve been very lucky to work on projects that represent a wide range of diversity of thought throughout my entire career, and I continue to do so. The Casting Directors I know have always had a strong commitment to representing the world with accuracy and compassion, so I think for the most part we will all continue doing that, and I hope that more people whose stories are underrepresented get shots at telling these stories and hiring us to help!
