Casting Director Opens The Door For Rising Talent: Spotlight On Nancy Nayor

As a the casting director, Nancy Nayor has been instrumental in launching careers.  While working as the SVP of Feature Film Casting at Universal Pictures, she gave many fresh faces a break by placing them in their first feature.  A sampling of stars that benefited from Nayor's knowing eye include Aaron Paul, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matthew McConaughey and Amanda Peet.

Nayor doesn’t draw the line at casting up-and-coming talent, however.  Periodically during her thirty plus year career she’s lent her talents to a project as a producer.  From securing financing and studio backing to landing the best cinematographers, she uses her production experience to get select projects off the ground.

“Sometimes I’m sent material and I see ways I can enhance it from more than just a casting perspective,” said Nayor.  “From working with the production companies to the studios, there are so many ways to help a project.”

Currently, she’s serving as executive producer on Crispy Twig Production’s BET competition series “One Shot.”   Created by Kxing Crooked, the show travels to major U.S. cities where up-and-coming hip hop artists have a platform to showcase their skills.  During each stop, a panel of judges : Crooked (founding member of Slaughterhouse, owner of Dynasty Entertainment), King Tech (member of duo Sway & Tech, co-host of national radio show “The Wake Up Show with Sway”), Mike Smith (singer, songwriter and musician who’s produced and worked with the industry’s top hip hop acts) and Sway Calloway (Host of Sirius XM’s “Sway in the Morning”, co-host of national radio show “The Wake Up Show with DJ King Tech” and longtime MTV News correspondent) select the six most qualified rappers who then compete for the opportunity to move on to a future round.  A huge “American Idol” fan, Nayor saw “One Shot” having the opportunity to fit into the space the series was leaving behind.  She also noted the expertise and credibility the panel of judges and their keen eye to spot promising talent.  Excited about the show’s potential for highlighting not only hip hop music, but the hip hop artists and their diverse lifestyles, she jumped on board.

“I saw the potential (“One Shot”) had to be the ‘Idol’ for the hip hop world,” said Nayor.  “Everything in our culture is affected by hip hop.  It just seemed like the perfect time.”

Despite the joys producer brings her, Nayor’s main passion remains casting.  After transplanting to California from Massachusetts in the mid 80s, her long-standing relationship with features casting began as a casting assistant at Universal on Art Linson’s “The Wild Life” and John Landis’ “Into the Night.”  Before long, she found herself leading the features casting department, overseeing in-house casting on features directed by top tier talent including John Hughes, Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg.   After serving as SVP of Feature Film Casting and devoting fourteen years to Universal, she longed to reconnect with indie production, where she’d have the opportunity to cast every role and “work in the trenches” as opposed to serving as more of a “liaison” between the different departments.

“In a studio it really does take a village to create everything,” said Nayor.

Casting in the contemporary landscape has truly opened the world up to Nayor.  From looking at unknown talent at international festivals such as the Berlin Film Festival, new talent featured in films at the BAFTA Awards, social media mavens and other online content  such as the comic shorts featured on “Funny or Die”, Nayor enjoys the access online research provides.  While she looks at the places one would expect a casting director to find talent, such as theater and smaller fests, she also reviews unconventional sources as well.  Gwyneth Paltrow was someone she discovered by flipping through ads in “Home and Journal” magazine.  And, while she’s always supported diverse casting – take 1994’s “The Flinstones” where Halle Berry was cast against type – she’s enthusiastic about the growing role casting directors have at emphasizing diversity.

“(Producers are beginning) to want their projects to look like the world in which we live,” said Nayor.  “As casting directors, we can help make that change happen by bringing in out of the box ideas.”

While Nayor has cast just about every genre, she frequently returns to horror.   Horror films provide a fertile ground for a young talent with great range –  they’re placed in “far-fetched scenarios” that required them to relay believably.  She particularly likes creating a nurturing environment for actors auditioning for these roles, noting a feature such as “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” required the actresses to speak in tongues and have complete seizures.

“You have to let the emotions happen.  There is nothing worse than people who are not there to foster that process,” said Nayor.   “An actor shouldn’t be auditioning before a casting director texting or pumping breast milk, but it has happened.”

To learn more about “One Shot” please visit:

http://www.bet.com/shows/one-shot.html