In the new Netflix thriller, The Beast in Me, Claire Danes stars as Aggie Wiggs, a grieving writer whose quiet life is upended when she’s asked to pen the biography of her mysterious neighbor, Nile Jarvis, played by Matthew Rhys. What begins as a professional arrangement soon twists into a tense psychological mystery, blurring the line between truth and obsession.
Casting director Julie Tucker helped shape that tension from the very start. In this interview, she talks about finding the right mix of vulnerability and charisma in her leads, the collaborative process behind the casting, and what actors can do to stand out when sending in their self-tapes and demo reels. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Watch the full conversation in the video above or on our YouTube channel.
When you start to cast a big mystery like this, how soon do you find out who the killer is?
Julie Tucker: It’s a really good question. I don’t always. I mean, in this case, I did have a good sense of it, but sometimes it’s just still in process in terms of what’s going on creatively for the creative team.
There have been shows I’ve worked on where they don’t know yet, I’m not going to out those shows, they’re older shows, but I remember an actor saying, “Did I do it?” And they were like, “Well, we don’t know.”
But in this case, it was pretty clear, in terms of their intent going into it. So, yeah, we knew.
But the exciting part is the ride you get to take. I mean, that’s The Beast right now for me, it’s just watching the ride.
Matthew Rhys and Claire Danes, you can’t go wrong with those two. He’s so sickly charming here. He’s got these eyes here that are oddly vacant, and I don’t know how he does it. And she’s got the most expressive face ever.
Julie Tucker: Yeah, she has such incredible access to the vulnerability of her nervous system. She’s so well anchored, that she can emotionally go anywhere, so finding somebody that can do the dance with her that way and be a partner as she does that, that also was, I think, part of the challenge and part of the beauty of what Matthew can do, because he’s just… he’s out there in the water, right there with her, buoying around, buoyant through his emotions. I think it’s really one of the things I love about him is the charm and charisma.
How did those two come to the show? Were they already kind of attached, or did you bring them on?
Julie Tucker: Matthew, no, but Claire Dane’s 100%. This was her baby for a while in development with Gabe [Rotter], and then she brought into the mix Howard Gordon and Daniel Pearle, and that was really the creative team that I had been working with since Accused, so, that was how I came into it.
And then Matthew was a collaborative conversation process. There’s a very big collaborative conversation with the creative team, along with studio and network, as well.
When you watch those two volley back and forth in their scenes together, did you fan out as much as I did? Like, “How are they doing this?”
Julie Tucker: Yeah, no, it’s thrilling. You know it going in based on the body of work, and then part of the challenge is the projection of chemistry that you go through as a casting director, and with the creative team of how you have that sense that there will be chemistry there.
Because the two of them, I think, they’re just sparring intellectually in just the most beautiful way to watch and witness. And we saw it really fast in the table read and we knew it. I mean, Matthew, from his theater work also, and also just, he had just done a reading that my associate casting director, Kim Krakauer, had seen him in really prior to the casting of him. It was a Bob Dylan reading, and that charisma he had there was really captivating for her.
So, it’s thrilling to watch that unfold on the screen, and it was thrilling to watch it unfold in table reads, and it was just fun to watch the two of them.
The entire cast actually, they’re just wonderful actors. They love the craft, and the joy of it, and that is just, as a casting professional, everything you want to see and witness.
When you’re reading the script for the first time and starting to plot out who you want to bring in, do you immediately imagine who the actors could be? Like Jonathan Banks‘ character, did he immediately pop in your head?
Julie Tucker: Yeah, he came pretty quickly to my mind and when that happens, it’s beautiful.
And then there’s where you imagine somebody, and as you begin to talk it out somebody else completely shows up in the conversation or in your own mind, and that is, I would say, one of the most exciting moments, because it’s so alive in that time.
A lot of casting, believe it or not, is discussing who it’s not to get to who it is. It’s just as much about the who it’s not, as the who it is.
So, like, you have a list of 5 people, and you’re like…
Julie Tucker: Yeah. As you talk to the creative team and also the studio or network, who are really important in that Netflix and 20th as creative partners in it, too, that input begins to reshape, the vision and the direction of where you go, and it’s kind of exciting.
At the start, as you’re kind of molding something, it takes shape, as opposed to necessarily the shape just being there, because as you’re molding it into a shape, it takes on another life of its own, which is what you want in a show. You want it to have that life because it keeps it organic.
When you watch other shows, and you see an actor you don’t know, do you sort mentally jog them down? Like, “Oh, who is this person?”
Julie Tucker: Oh, yeah. It’s because we have so much internet around us, it’s like pause, look it up. It’s kind of annoying to watch a show with me that way, because sometimes I need to know immediately, because I want to remember and record it.
But it’s also the discovery of somebody in a co-star role, or who’s got the guest star of the week in an episodic drama, or somebody that’s come in and has a recurring role that’s just arcing its way through a show, it’s those people that are so thrilling to kind of pull out of shows.
What was the hardest role to cast?
Julie Tucker: Matthew Rhys. He’s a godsend. I’m, like, so grateful every day because Niles was the other anchor of the show. You couldn’t really know who the wife was, you couldn’t know anything until you had that piece of the puzzle really solidified. That is where the show kind of stays on track or goes off track in that moment, you know?
I think everything is challenging in its own way, because it’s all in relationship to the choices you make. So, one choice affects the next choice, affects the next choice, so you’re always keeping that in mind, and also constantly pulling back to look at the whole picture, so that you’re telling stories immediately by the presence of somebody when they come on screen.
It’s like the moment an actor walks on screen, they tell a story, and so that’s the intentionality of what we do in the casting side of it, and what the director, writer, and producers are all doing as well.
And as it’s unfolding in the writing process, because not all the scripts were delivered right at the beginning. So, you’re going along, you have lots of time, and then suddenly something has shifted that they’re finding that shifts how they’re writing, and that takes their process a little longer, so that is, I think, the other really challenging aspect of the work that I do. Suddenly are like, okay, “I can cast this show in 2 days, as opposed to the 2 weeks we thought we had.”
Because really, my department starts the train for every other department, so I’m literally sitting here waiting to finish my deals so that every other department can get to work.
When you agree to cast something, what’s your workload? Is it long hours the whole time or just at the beginning?
Julie Tucker: It’s really heavy, and on a limited series like this, it’s extraordinarily heavy, especially in the very beginning, because you’re building out the world. Basically, you wake up and you go to sleep with it. It’s kind of wild that way. You just have to really be intentional about time to come up for air, breathe, see the light, go outside, you know, touch some earth.
You start usually with about 10 weeks, and there’s usually a little push that comes in that gives you a little bit more time, because you quickly realize that it’s hard to do this in just 10 weeks nowadays. You’re making a little movie in the first episode, and then you’re making basically 6 or 7 other movies that follow that.
And because you’re looking at a show where you’re stacking up characters, you’re building out that world, and that does take a tremendous amount of energy and time, and navigation.
And again, until you know who’s playing his wife, then you don’t necessarily know who this other character is, so you’re constantly pulling back and looking at it and having those conversations, and meanwhile, your creative team is scouting, they’re doing everything under the sun. They’re also really busy, so you have to put everything in front of them and take into account their time.
What’s your advice to actors right now? It’s kind of hard out there, you know? People are struggling to even get an audition.
Julie Tucker: I do believe that there’s more work coming down the pipeline, so to speak. I think that what’s really crucial for all of us, because it’s the same in my profession as well, is to take incredible care of ourselves during this time period. So that when the work comes, we’re in shape for it, and we don’t get worn down by the stories that are kind of relevant in our culture around work right now in the industry itself.
Because while there’s truth, and I don’t want to bypass any of that, and the struggle of that, and being in touch with all that, the more internalized that becomes, the harder the comeback for the individual is.
I believe firmly in figuring out what else we do in the meantime, and then staying in the best emotional shape so that we’re ready when that role, that job for me, comes along, so that I can be as present as possible, because the in-between time hasn’t taken the toll on my ability to show up, because it’s all going to be about the courage to show up.
I think at the end of the day, on my end, that’s what creates presence, and that’s what I respond to. Whether that person is right for the role that they’re reading for or not isn’t always relevant, but that they’ll be right for something else down the line with me.
There are a lot of those actors I’ve seen over the past 5 years during COVID on tape, and I didn’t have the opportunity to cast, so it was really thrilling to have the opportunity to cast them in The Beast in Me.
Speaking of self-tapes, I’m sure you watch a million of those, do you have any sort of tips or advice that you can give?
Julie Tucker: I do and I don’t, because I think that, again, it gets really heady in that way because it is really checking in with our nervous systems so that we’re remembering when we go to do the work, what the work is to us, and not worry about, am I doing it necessarily right in a way that will get me the job?
Because if one is doing the work of the actor, and the technical aspects of the self-tape are taken care of, then everything will work. And the work as the actor, everyone has a different definition of that.
But I will say, on a technical front, I think that one of the most important sides of it that’s been, I would say challenging, is to constantly figure out how to support actors with a reader. So, who’s reading with you does matter in the end.
Like, it does make a difference in terms of my producers who write the shows, they’re listening to your lines and also the rhythm of the reader, the sound. It could still be your parent or even your kid, but the quality of it just needs to be something that they can hear. And the tempo of it needs to be somewhere in the ballpark of the show. So, I do feel like the readers make a difference for actors.
Sound quality is the technical thing lately that seems to be bumping everyone.
And I would say not to do 500 takes. When I’m teaching, I’m like, just do 3. Just give yourself a boundary and just practice doing 3 takes, because if you’re in the room, if you’re on the set, that’s what it’s going to be. You want to keep yourself in shape for that.
And in that same kind of ballpark, don’t stop yourself. A lot of times, an actor will get into it, they’ll make a mistake, and they’ll be like, “Okay, I’m going to go back.” You can’t do that in the room and you can’t do it on set. So, it’s literally being like, “I’m an actor, I’m going to be on set, I’m going to do my self-tape as if the same way people would come into the room.”
This way you stay in shape for when that opportunity comes, and the role is booked, and you’re on set.
Don’t use prompters. There’s a lot of things just to be really mindful of that are shortcuts that you wouldn’t use on set, and you wouldn’t use if you’re coming in the room, and that really aren’t reflective of your artistry and your craft. So, it’s staying attuned to that when you’re doing a self-tape.
I guess I had more to say than I thought I did.
No, that was fantastic.
That was terrific. I imagine you watch a ton of demo reels. What are you looking for when you watch them?
Julie Tucker: I think for every actor, it’s going to be different in terms of what their body of work is. For me, current is the most important thing, because you’re not coming in the room. So, really being able to see somebody current. The stuff that’s 8 years old, I don’t necessarily need to see. It’s fine if it’s on there somewhere else, but not at the top.
The top of the reel needs to really be reflective of where that artist is at the moment, that’s really crucial. Again, reflective of where the artist is at the moment is, I think, the most important thing.
I like reels that have shows I can reference. I totally get the idea of making your own reel with really high quality, professional scene work and camera work, and that might work for other people, but for me, it doesn’t. I’d rather see nothing. I’d just rather see the audition, because sometimes that doesn’t really work the same way the actor thinks it works, and it can sometimes backfire as a result.
The reel for me is to learn a little bit more about an actor, but it’s also so that I can show the creative team more about the actor, and then also the studio and network more about the actor.
How can somebody get on your radar? I remember back in the day, we could send our headshot and resume over.
Julie Tucker: I know, right? You remember postcards?
Oh my god, yes, postcards. “Just booked!”
Julie Tucker: I know, I love those so much. They would sit on a pile on my desk, and I would just sift through them as I’m working.
I get it. I get that need to kind of stay top of mind. So, top of mind for me, and this is really just for me, is I use Instagram for that. My Instagram is open. If it was a private Instagram, that would be different, but it’s an open Instagram. Anyone that messages me, I usually see the message.
I can’t respond to all the messages. I can respond to all my emails. My emails are insane. Instagram is basically how I stay in touch with actors and see what they’re doing, and it’s kind of my version of a postcard.
