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Right for the Role: Breakdowns, Breakups and Breakthroughs From 35 Years of Casting Iconic TV Shows
While there are many books that catalog Hollywood—from the classic to the profane, gritty to salacious—few tell the tale of how entertainment’s biggest names became the biggest names.
Right for the Role shares the story straight from an insider who’s been central to that process for decades. Four-time Emmy-award-winning casting director John Frank Levey hasn’t just witnessed some of the world’s greatest acting talents make it in Hollywood; in many cases, he’s had a major hand in it.
As the casting director for numerous iconic TV series, including ER, The West Wing and Shameless, Levey saw firsthand that household names like George Clooney, Anthony Edwards and Allison Janney had “it”—and then watched their “it” propel them into the stratosphere.
In Right for the Role, Levey manages to tell a story of life among the glitterati while never losing his exuberance for being a part of the process. Through his colorful tales of meeting incredible talent early in their careers—including Josh Gad, Lucy Liu and a just-out-of-Julliard Jessica Chastain—Levey documents his transformation from a novice casting director to one of the greats in the field.
Beyond teaching readers how to spot what it takes to make it in Hollywood, how casting has changed since the 1980s (when telephones had cords!) or how to live in a world of glamour and gusto, Levey’s stories also show how to play a central role in a show’s success without losing a sense of wonder. For any aspiring casting directors, actors or students of Hollywood history, Right for the Role is a must-read.
Right for the Role shares the story straight from an insider who’s been central to that process for decades. Four-time Emmy-award-winning casting director John Frank Levey hasn’t just witnessed some of the world’s greatest acting talents make it in Hollywood; in many cases, he’s had a major hand in it.
As the casting director for numerous iconic TV series, including ER, The West Wing and Shameless, Levey saw firsthand that household names like George Clooney, Anthony Edwards and Allison Janney had “it”—and then watched their “it” propel them into the stratosphere.
In Right for the Role, Levey manages to tell a story of life among the glitterati while never losing his exuberance for being a part of the process. Through his colorful tales of meeting incredible talent early in their careers—including Josh Gad, Lucy Liu and a just-out-of-Julliard Jessica Chastain—Levey documents his transformation from a novice casting director to one of the greats in the field.
Beyond teaching readers how to spot what it takes to make it in Hollywood, how casting has changed since the 1980s (when telephones had cords!) or how to live in a world of glamour and gusto, Levey’s stories also show how to play a central role in a show’s success without losing a sense of wonder. For any aspiring casting directors, actors or students of Hollywood history, Right for the Role is a must-read.
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
343 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 23, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 17, 2025
Poorly written overview of the career of a casting director. The author admits it's his first published work and it is somewhat amateur. The potential for great content is there--the guy cast major television series like ER and West Wing--but it falters due to his numbingly long sections on his private life and his overlooking some of the shows he was involved with. It doesn't help that he was a lawbreaking druggie radical raised by leftist parents, which makes him somewhat clueless about the real world.
Instead he insists that everything he cast was "realistic," though scripted drama for television is never realistic. For example, what ER did in glorifying doctors rushing through incredible circumstances was so outside reality that it was pure fiction. Throwing in a few elements of the real world does not make fiction "real" or "realistic"--the dramatic format by definition is fake and sensationalizes the much slower-paced real world while reflecting the biased reality of those involved in making the show.
What gets most confusing is his attempt to make himself look like a society-changing hero by casting people of color or real HIV victims in AIDS storylines. He admits to being a left-wing radical whose bias and propaganda show in his decision-making. But then he makes absurd claims that sound a whole lot more conservative--that he never used stereotyping in casting (not true), that he thought his background of doing drugs and dropping acid was just a normal part of life (maybe for Hollywood but not in everyday America), and that he proudly wasn't eligible for Vietnam military duty because he had felony charges on his record (and this is the guy that supposedly fairly cast China Beach?).
He also brags about being a Democrat but "a quota system turns me off." Um, hate to tell you this, but studios and content creators do enforce a quota system that is all about liberals giving favors to those that don't deserve it. It continues to be pushed by woke Democrats despite it being ruled illegal after objections by truly fair-minded Republicans. Namely, Levey doesn't seem to understand what he believes.
He proves his foundational "beliefs" to be bigoted and he doesn't cast without bias the way he claims. In Shameless he insisted on a transgender actor to play a similar character so "I saw a parade of young men who had been born female and made the brave decision to right that wrong." HUH? How does someone trying to change the science of their birth gender right ANY wrong? By the way, he mentions this casting at least five times throughout the book, proving how narrow his examples are.
Er gets 75 pages, Growing Pains gets two. ER, he says, had 40 million viewers for the first episode but online the Nielsen ratings show it was only 24 million--and despite his bragging, ER wasn't even the #1 show on TV that season. Doubt what it says online? This author doesn't--he actually admits to using unreliable and biased Wikipedia to reference show details he can't recall!
The author's inability to communicate clearly in writing or have any balance makes it difficult to read. He organizes the book with ridiculous chapter introductions that are supposed to be summaries of his private life, followed by page-after-repetitive page of individual cast members or charts of guest stars that provide little insight.
He warns us, "There is no claim from me that it is the truth." Typical liberal, truth is not as important as image or pleasing those that only want change.
John Levey was not right for the role of memoir writer.
Instead he insists that everything he cast was "realistic," though scripted drama for television is never realistic. For example, what ER did in glorifying doctors rushing through incredible circumstances was so outside reality that it was pure fiction. Throwing in a few elements of the real world does not make fiction "real" or "realistic"--the dramatic format by definition is fake and sensationalizes the much slower-paced real world while reflecting the biased reality of those involved in making the show.
What gets most confusing is his attempt to make himself look like a society-changing hero by casting people of color or real HIV victims in AIDS storylines. He admits to being a left-wing radical whose bias and propaganda show in his decision-making. But then he makes absurd claims that sound a whole lot more conservative--that he never used stereotyping in casting (not true), that he thought his background of doing drugs and dropping acid was just a normal part of life (maybe for Hollywood but not in everyday America), and that he proudly wasn't eligible for Vietnam military duty because he had felony charges on his record (and this is the guy that supposedly fairly cast China Beach?).
He also brags about being a Democrat but "a quota system turns me off." Um, hate to tell you this, but studios and content creators do enforce a quota system that is all about liberals giving favors to those that don't deserve it. It continues to be pushed by woke Democrats despite it being ruled illegal after objections by truly fair-minded Republicans. Namely, Levey doesn't seem to understand what he believes.
He proves his foundational "beliefs" to be bigoted and he doesn't cast without bias the way he claims. In Shameless he insisted on a transgender actor to play a similar character so "I saw a parade of young men who had been born female and made the brave decision to right that wrong." HUH? How does someone trying to change the science of their birth gender right ANY wrong? By the way, he mentions this casting at least five times throughout the book, proving how narrow his examples are.
Er gets 75 pages, Growing Pains gets two. ER, he says, had 40 million viewers for the first episode but online the Nielsen ratings show it was only 24 million--and despite his bragging, ER wasn't even the #1 show on TV that season. Doubt what it says online? This author doesn't--he actually admits to using unreliable and biased Wikipedia to reference show details he can't recall!
The author's inability to communicate clearly in writing or have any balance makes it difficult to read. He organizes the book with ridiculous chapter introductions that are supposed to be summaries of his private life, followed by page-after-repetitive page of individual cast members or charts of guest stars that provide little insight.
He warns us, "There is no claim from me that it is the truth." Typical liberal, truth is not as important as image or pleasing those that only want change.
John Levey was not right for the role of memoir writer.
April 9, 2023
Right For The Role Is A Must Read!
Right For the Role: Breakdowns, Breakups, and Breakthroughs by John Frank Levey Is a must read for anyone - especially any Actor, any Creative, and any Television Lover! Mr. Levey gives his honest insights on the evolution of the happy "accidents" that created his amazing Casting Career. The book is filled with fascinating stories of what it was like to Cast some of the most Iconic TV shows. I found this book to be a fun,insightful, and fascinating read. I would highly recommend this book to everyone -congratulations John Frank Levey on writing such a fantastic book!
Right For the Role: Breakdowns, Breakups, and Breakthroughs by John Frank Levey Is a must read for anyone - especially any Actor, any Creative, and any Television Lover! Mr. Levey gives his honest insights on the evolution of the happy "accidents" that created his amazing Casting Career. The book is filled with fascinating stories of what it was like to Cast some of the most Iconic TV shows. I found this book to be a fun,insightful, and fascinating read. I would highly recommend this book to everyone -congratulations John Frank Levey on writing such a fantastic book!
October 10, 2022
A great book on a crucial behind-the-scenes part of the entertainment world. Levey demystifies an art not many think about from outside the industry, or even from below the line inside. Great anecdotes, and a doting, facile reveal of how crucial casting is. I was surprised how much more it is than just gatekeeping or connecting the dots. The book sheds a lot of light into into the advocacy, collaboration, and compassion behind finding and guiding actors into a perfect fit for a role.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews