To cast Ida, it took ages, and I was a bit desperate. I couldn't find somebody I could believe in. I spent months looking for the lead among young actresses and drama students.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I've auditioned for normal characters. But I never get cast.
I went through the process of auditioning like every other struggling actress in this town.
When I was coming up with the Hal Hartley films, I was cast as a no one. I had no name visibility. I was working at a downtown post-performance-art, avant garde theater company and doing a couple things on television. But I was a total unknown.
As I got older, I auditioned for drama school and shocked myself by getting in.
A friend of my mom's was a casting director so, really as kind of a lark, I had a couple of acting jobs that had just enough exposure to give me the option to continue if I wanted to. I followed through with it.
I was lucky - the first eight productions I auditioned for, I got cast.
There's a very small group of elite actresses who are my age, who people want to work with. It's not easy to get a good job with good actors.
There was this project I really wanted before 'Glee' and I didn't get cast - I went in about 13 times and I was so bummed when I didn't get it. But then a month later I got cast on 'Glee,' and I felt like it was meant to happen.
My acting career began when I walked into a drama school class run by Anna Scher in Islington. Anna discovered a lot of people: Linda Robson, Pauline Quirke, Gary and Martin Kemp, and Dexter Fletcher were among my contemporaries.
I only really cast people who are desperate to be in it - who were dying to be in it, whose talent I believed in and were dead ready to do the work that was necessary.