This month we speak to Debbie Burdon, casting coordinator and founder of Liskeard-based Take 1 Casting, about working with children, old shoes and Vikings.
There’s much more to a casting coordinator’s job than finding talent. At least, there is the way Debbie Burdon does it. “Casting agents typically stay in their offices and don’t go on set. But I never want to be dishing out people from behind a desk!”
Thankfully, Debbie’s hands-on approach sees her away from her desk plenty — heading to meetings at production offices, helping out on set, and organising everything related to the people she provides. Her desire to get stuck in was ignited in the early 90s, when she saw The Three Musketeers filming in the woods near her St. Cleer home. “I was hooked!” She signed up with a casting agency and was soon working as a supporting actor in the Rosamunde Pilcher adaptations for German television. Her transition to the other side of the lens came when the production company, FFP New Media, offered her a job coordinating their extras.
Debbie still works with them — but these days it’s via her agency, Take 1 Casting. Her willingness to go above and beyond what is typically expected of a casting agent has helped her build an impressive client roster. “FFP New Media always wanted me on set to help guide the extras through costume and makeup. I just carried on doing that.” She explains that some productions don’t always have third ADs (who are typically the crowd coordinators) so they appreciate it when the casting agency can assist. Simply put, “We always want to make life easier for productions.”
Take 1’s TV work includes Cornish and South West-based series Poldark, Doc Martin, Delicious and Broadchurch, while their feature work includes Fisherman’s Friends, About Time, and The Kid Who Would Be King. Are there any common themes when it comes to the casting requirements of productions coming to Cornwall? ‘We get a lot of period productions, and they want people who are natural looking. It makes the costume and makeup departments’ lives easier.” This means no modern hairstyles or eyebrows, no tattoos or piercings. There’s also a high demand for long-haired men, and anybody who can tolerate wearing slightly uncomfortable shoes — “We can always take up the hem on a dress, but period shoes never seem to come in regular sizes. I try to get our extras shoes that are a size bigger, so their feet don’t get cramped when they’re walking around Charlestown all day!”
Regardless of the time period, Take 1 provides opportunities for all ages. “We cast newborn babies and eighty-year-old fishermen”, Debbie explains. However, they have carved out a niche in casting children. For Debbie, this is the most rewarding part of her work. “We were on Poldark for the whole five years and provided SAs (supporting actors), children and chaperones. It was wonderful to see the children getting dressed up in their scraggly clothes, running on the beach and mixing with the stars, who would always make a fuss of them.” Parents often remark that the experience has helped their children gain confidence, and many stay on Debbie’s books as they grow up. “I’ve got one little girl who’s been filming since she was four. She’s so enthusiastic and talented, with no training other than the experience she’s had on set.”
While rewarding, working with children is famously not without its complexities. One of Take 1’s key services is providing chaperones. “The chaperone has to be with the child every minute they’re on set. They’re like their parents for the day.” Debbie explains that while the rules allow for one chaperone to work with twelve children, she always aims for a maximum ratio of one to six. “I try to persuade productions to have more chaperones than they think they need, and they are always thankful. You can never have enough!”
We speak about recent production Malory Towers, and the irony of Debbie having to arrange for dozens of girls to take time off school so that they could star as pupils in the Enid Blyton adaptation. “Schools are very accommodating, but it can be difficult.” With shooting starting in early September, Debbie was determined that no girl would miss her first day of (real) school. Thankfully, they were able to juggle the schedule and keep the education authorities happy.
For the recent Netflix release Cursed, filmed at Holywell Bay, Debbie needed men with a Viking-look. “We put out a call on Facebook, and the response smashed all our records!” Some of those extras then went on to Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol, to appear in the second season of The Spanish Princess. “Our extras are really versatile”, Debbie says. “If people have a good look, they won’t just film the one production. They’re with us, and we get them into other things — you put them in a different costume, and they become a different person!”
Finally, I ask whether Debbie has noticed any changes in the industry during her time as a casting coordinator. “There’s a new emphasis on diversity”, she says. “ITV and the BBC are really on it nowadays. We know how important it is, and we’re doing everything we can.”
With that, it’s about time I let Debbie go. It’s a beautiful day and she’s taking her daughter to the beach — presumably one that’s not presently overrun by Vikings.
Written by Alex MJ Smith, with thanks to Debbie Burdon at Take 1 Casting.
