VIDEO: CASTING CALL, Women React To Demeaning Casting Call Character Descriptions

It's no secret that society holds women to a more rigid standard of appearance than men. This standard is certainly reflected in the acting profession, where men are allowed to age, gain weight and represent a far wider variety of physical appearances than the women they work with.

To drive the point home, actor/writer/producer/director Julie Asriyan, along with co-producers Jenna Ciralli and Laura Bray, gathered an assortment of actual casting notices whose descriptions of female characters went far beyond reasonable limits of acceptability, and had them read by women actors for a video titled CASTING CALL. The women appear to be reading the notices cold, without any preparation, capturing their honest reactions.

"Whether it's stereotyping, sexism, racism, ageism, inequality, or a slew of other demeaning, shocking and sometimes yes, absolutely hilarious offenses women face in the casting world of acting, this project seeks to open up the conversation with both humor and grace," Asriyan writes.

Julie Asriyan is multi-cultural and multi-lingual actor from New York by way of many corners of the world. Julie's love and devotion to the creative and performing arts extends to acting, dance, writing, directing, producing and beyond. She is a graduate of the William Esper Studio in New York where she studied under Terry Knickerbocker in the Professional Actor Training Program. Julie is a New York Innovative Theater Awards nominee for Outstanding Actress in a Featured Role for her work in Israel Horovitz's BEIRUT ROCKS and THE BUMP. She has also received acknowledgment for her writing, having had her work SOULS ON PARADE performed at Theatre Row. She is the producer and creative director of multiple music videos for her sister and creative partner Kris Alberts. Visit julieasriyan.com.