How to Audition for High Stakes TV with Emmy-Winning Casting Director Julie Schubert

Emmy-winning casting director Julie Schubert is back for a second visit on How We Role, where she joins host Robert Peterpaul fresh off the new season of Netflix’s political thriller The Diplomat.

In this episode, Schubert gets practical about what actually moves the needle for actors auditioning for high-stakes television. If you want to understand how a seasoned casting director thinks and what she’s looking for, this one is worth your full attention.

In this episode you’ll learn:

Why honoring the exact dialogue is non-negotiable on writer-driven TV (and who’s really watching your tape)

What Julie needs to see before she sends a self-tape to producers and what makes her hold it back

A game-changing hack for eyeline when your scene has multiple characters

How to reframe networking as genuine curiosity rather than a transaction

High-stakes scene tips for authority, subtext, and big emotional moments

One of the sharpest moments in this conversation comes early, when Schubert breaks down what she means by honoring the words on the page. On a show like The Diplomat, where the writing is as precise as it is political, word changes aren’t without purpose.

“The dialogue, the specific word choices of every scene, it’s all very deliberate,” she tells Peterpaul. What makes this even more pointed is the reminder she offers right after: in television, the showrunner is the writer, and the person who put those words on the page is very likely the same person watching your tape. It’s a deceptively simple observation that reframes the entire self-tape process.

Schubert is equally direct when it comes to the co-star circuit, the part of the audition process that trips up even experienced actors. She has a full class dedicated to one-liners and short scenes because, as she puts it, they’re the hardest thing to audition for. Her advice: these roles almost never have character names. They have job titles. Barista. Receptionist. Secretary.

“That already gives you an idea of what they’re looking for in a character,” she explains, “because each of these roles has an expectation.” From there, she says, you build outward. Set the environment, make specific choices, and bring who, what, where, when, and why to material most actors treat as a throwaway.

Schubert also gets candid about rejection and the pressure actors put on themselves chasing approval. Her take is grounding: the rejection rate will always outpace the success rate, for actors and for casting directors alike.

But the real insight she offers is about what keeps that from spiraling. “Have other interests outside of this,” she says plainly. “If this is your end-all, be-all, you’re gonna spiral.” She connects it directly to desperation in the room, and how a full life outside the audition process is one of the few things actually within an actor’s control.

She closes the episode with the advice she’s both received and now gives: don’t take things too seriously, and enjoy your life regardless of the outcome. Enjoy the process.

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