To wonder how casting for 'ugly' people works

[iwantasandwich]

I've been watching desperate housewives for the first time and the two girls who were cast to play Gabbies children were done intentionally to be the opposite of her, 'ugly' and plump for the contrast and the story line initially too.

I then started wondering how does this work when casting, what parent or agent sees a casting call for 'ugly fat children wanted' and thinks 'ooo I've got one of those'

The same applies for adult roles but I find it especially hard to understand for children.

Some characters are designed to look a certain way, but when that way is ugly or spotty or very large how does that work for peoples self esteem.

AIBU to think it's a weird balance for parents to find with helping their child who wants to act but also accept the fact sometimes they'll be cast for a less than ideal aspect of their appearance?

I think my point is that they don't necessarily look for someone who is ugly, they look for someone who can play the part of "ugly" and then make/dress them up accordingly.

I read that in Home Alone the director chose a boy to be the photo of Kevin's older brother's ugly girlfriend because he didn't want a girl to go through having been cast for that.

"then started wondering how does this work when casting, what parent or agent sees a casting call for 'ugly fat children wanted' and thinks 'ooo I've got one of those'"

^
I'm sorry but this made me snort laugh in to my cup of tea 😂😂😂😂

That reminds me of a line the same actress had in Superstore along the lines of

"It's like when you see an ugly woman in a TV show, butu then she takes off her glasses and she's actually really, really pretty!" 😂

The thread also reminded me off the attachd Tweet I saw!

I have an actress friend who is also a model and is absolutely beautiful, but she gets very brutal feedback about her looks and acting skills on occasion. I think it's an industry where you have to have rhino skin to survive, and I guess child agencies test resilience as part of their recruitment. I hope so anyway.

I’ve always wondered this too, glad I’m not the only one.

I think there's a distinction between ugly and overweight.

I don't think any if the kids mentioned here have been hired for being "ugly".

It must be relatively easy to cast fat people, for obvious reasons.

The youngest child in the desperate housewives scenario was definitely cast for being ugly as well as fat!

Was a plot point, so must have actively looked for someone to fit that element

I was thinking about this the other day watching Weeds. There's a little girl and her entire storyline is her mother trying to get her to lose weight. Her mother calls her Isa-belly and swaps her chocolate with laxatives so she'll lose weight.

Are you talking about Madison de la Garza?

@OneTC

If she is the one that looked like a little Danny DeVito yes!

I’d always wondered this about an episode of Friends where Ross is dancing with children at a wedding and one of them is overweight and hurts his feet.

Fun fact: in Home Alone when Kevin finds a picture of his brother's ugly girlfriend they chose a boy in a wig for the photo as it felt too mean to just have a girl as she was.

Lol, I see someone already posted that. Of all the niche bits of trivia...

She actually played the older child, but she was the one who had the relevant plot lines. In one episode they coudn't find a "princess" dress to fit her and Gabi tries to make her lose weight by making her run home from school behind the car.

Crossposted with others; I wonder why this one has stuck in our minds?!

@ExHack

Ah in that case no she wasn't the one who looked like a little 50 year old man!

It probably stuck in your mind because it was mean and bullying.

My child was turned down for an ad because he wasnt fat enough!

press submit too soon, he was an average 4 year old!
He was put forward by a family member for a campaign in their job, they were looking for a red head

Aww I think you're being a bit mean about those kids. I wouldn't say either of them were ugly! I think the casting was done on chemistry/screen tests with Eva Longoria and Ricardo Antonio Chavira. AFAIK the only concession to appearance was that Juanita should look a little like Gaby, and Celia should resemble Carlos.

I seem to remember some of the storylines around Juanita especially were a bit cruel, even back then. Stuff about her weight. I doubt you could do some of those storylines now.

The actress who played her is a TV director now, I think. And she's Demi Lovato's half sister. (Pub quiz fact for the day.)

I wonder if then they don't post the 'mean' casting requirements then

If in this case they only asked for red headed children but clearly wanted a fat red head they just left that bit out

Oh come off it

The little one looked like a small man

I suppose hit the brief about looking like her dad in that case...

I'm looking at pics of those kids and thinking you're being proper harsh

Nah you see I think you've gone too far there. What was she, six or something?