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Nina Gold and Martin Ware, photos courtesy of Teri Pengilley and Focus Features.
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Nina Gold and Martin Ware Talk Casting ‘Conclave,’ What Made Isabella Rossellini Right for Her Role as Sister Agnes


November 6, 2024

Casting directors don’t get much bigger than Nina Gold. You might have heard of some of the projects she’s cast during her 30-plus-year career. Titles like Eastern Promises, The King’s Speech, The Crown, several Star Wars films and the Andor series, Slow Horses, and, oh yeah, a little thing called Game of Thrones.

There’s also the BAFTA award she’s won, and the six Emmys (from 19 nominations). The most recent win, for Baby Reindeer, Gold shared with her associate, Martin Ware, who is building a rather impressive resume of his own. The pair have now cast one of the year’s best movies, Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, and based on the bestselling novel by Robert Harris. The pair spoke with us from their London office.

Insights: Lessons from Nina Gold and Martin Ware

  • Actors should come to auditions prepared, but also be ready to keep their performance fresh and adaptable.
  • When auditioning for a role, consider the context of the production and tailor your audition to fit the project’s needs.
  • Think about how you would fit into not just the character but the overall look and feel of the production.

How did you get into casting in the first place?

Martin Ware: I went to drama school and trained to be an actor, and then very quickly, after leaving drama school, realized that that wasn’t going to be for me. I didn’t get any jobs, and I just thought, “I better try something else.”

I started doing a bit of work experience with some casting directors, and it suited me. The life and the creative aspect and being with actors and working with scripts and stories. That was 15, 16 years ago.

Nina, what about you?

Nina Gold: I didn’t start in acting. (Laughs) I’m terrible at acting.

I was a still student, and I used to help friends who were working in costumes and styling on music videos in the 1980s. I thought I wanted to work on making films of some description, and as I started doing that, I realized that the people and the characters and the actor’s side of it was the bit I liked.

Gradually, very gradually, one thing led to another in a very slow, step-by-step kind of way.

Can you tell me about the transition from helping friends to now being at the top of the casting director pyramid?

NG: When I started, I didn’t know much about anything, but was very keen to learn and try anything. Standing outside nightclubs at three in the morning saying to people who looked right, “do you want to be in a video tomorrow?”

As a child in England, we used to have this thing called the Radio Times, a weekly magazine about what was on TV, and it would have the cast lists. My obsession as a child was reading the Radio Times and who was in which program. I moved from music videos to TV commercials and then did some TV. It was all about learning as you go.

Eventually, I somehow, God knows how, got a job with Mike Leigh, who gave me a crash course in learning all about every actor in Britain. That was incredibly interesting and taught me a hell of a lot. It is a constant learning curve. You can’t ever think you know it all.

Let’s talk about Conclave. What were the challenges of casting something as large as this?

NG: Well, we were keen to try and be faithful in some way to the fact that the Vatican is, I imagine, very multinational. People from everywhere. That was quite a challenge to make that right. Also, the writing is so great and the parts are so appealing that we felt we could go to the person of our dreams in every case. Great actors at the top of their game.

I was especially fascinated by the casting of Isabella Rossellini. What was it about her that made you think of her for the role?

NG: Partly that she’s got that Italian thing, but also because she seemed like a person who could deliver all of the stuff that she does without much dialogue. She can tell you so much without speaking a lot. Also, casting cardinals and nuns, there are people that you consider and you think they’re good, and then when you imagine this person in a nun’s habit, it’s just completely insane. It didn’t seem crazy to do that with her,

The two of you have both cast people who have been nominated for and even won major awards. Is there a satisfaction that comes with that recognition when the people you cast get you are recognized by the various academies?

NG: Yes, It’s lovely. For all that one thinks, Oh, none of this stuff matters, when it happens, it makes you feel good. People are recognizing that, and it’s we’re happy that that’s being celebrated.

When you get a script like this, do you find that you’re licking your chops a little bit because there are so many great parts?

MW: It was fantastic because they’ve all got their amazing moments and their great scenes and speeches and head-to-head scenes. It was brilliant, dreaming up lists of these people, imagining various combinations and thinking who would be great with each other. But as Nina said, they were such good parts, that you didn’t fear approaching the very best people.

People are still coming in to audition for you. Do you find that there are common mistakes that people actors make when they’re auditioning?

MW: I think with some less experienced young actors, the nervousness can mean that they don’t always listen to notes. They’ll do a scene through and then you might give them a few ideas or a few ways to change it, and they’re just in a place where they aren’t listening and then they don’t enact that thing.

This is hard to do because, of course, getting nervous before an audition is normal and, sometimes, helpful. Just be able to come in with an idea of something and then be ready to listen and change things up.

With that in mind. Is there any bit of advice or wisdom that you would give to somebody coming in to audition for you?

NG: You’ve got the sides if you haven’t learned it, but looking at the page and trying to remember what it is you’re meant to be doing is not conducive to the best possible audition. On the other hand, you still have to retain a way of keeping it new and fresh. It’s a fine balance.

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