Get to Know the Casting Director: Michael Sanford
Michael Sanford is a force in the commercial world, which may come as no surprise considering he started Sanford Casting back in 2000. Sanford’s worked on some big commercials over the years, and just recently, he cast spots for State Farm, Theraflu, Tennessee Lottery, Audi, Lexus, Chevy and Lucid Motors. When Sanford virtually sat down with Casting Networks, though, we wanted to know more about the person behind all the casting work.
The get-to-know-you questions started with a query about Sanford’s moment of clarity regarding his casting career. He shared about his early days as an actor who then became intrigued with the work of casting through an internship and began freelancing for multiple casting directors. It got to the point where Sanford was choosing to miss auditions rather than miss a casting session, and it was at that moment the casting director realized it was what he wanted to do.
We next asked for a window into how he works, and Sanford’s response shared his appreciation for getting to connect with actors in person, as well as his dedication to creating a casting atmosphere where people feel safe and supported.
Then came the query that may just be the hallmark of our Get to Know the Casting Director series. If someone made a film about Sanford’s life, which actor would he cast to play the role of Michael? The casting director shared some names he’d been compared to when he was a young actor, but he decided on casting an unknown thespian for the role.
And then he flipped the question on the interviewer. In true casting director fashion, Sanford began naming actors that would be a good fit to play the interviewer, a first-time occurrence in the history of Get to Know the Casting Director.
Besides watching the interview to take in that flip-the-script moment, you can also find out the answer to our final question. We asked what Sanford would be doing if he weren’t in casting, and after sharing his response, the casting director ended the interview with a moment of appreciation for his chosen career. “I’m grateful that I’m still doing this,” Sanford shared. “I still really like what I do — I’m very lucky.”
You can catch all these insights and more in this on-camera installment of Get to Know the Casting Director.
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This video interview has been edited and condensed.
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