Soap Auditions

Auditions and casting information for the CBS daytime drama 'The Young and the Restless'

The hit CBS Daytime Serial "The Young and the Restless" is now in it's 38th season and casting for actors, under-five players, and extras is ongoing. The serial has won 100+ Daytime Emmy Awards, along with hundreds of nominations. The Young and the Restless is currently the highest-rated daytime drama on American television. It has appeared at the top of the weekly Nielsen Ratings in that category for more than 1100 weeks since 1988.

"The Young and the Restless", along with NBC's "Days of our Lives", has been renewed through 2013 with optional 2014.

Principal Actor and Under-Five Casting:

See the post titled Headshot and Resume Information regarding how to submit for soap acting roles.

Please submit photos and resumes by mail only.
No phone calls or personal drop-offs.

Judy Blye Wilson
c/o CBS
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Suite 3305
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Extras Casting:

Greg Salmon
c/o CBS
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Suite 3305
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Please put your AFTRA membership number on your photo and resume.

Production Companies:

Do NOT send photos and resumes to the production companies (they will most likely end up in the trash can), they do not cast the films. They hire casting directors who sort through the thousands of submissions.

Bell Dramatic Serial
7800 Beverly Blvd
Suite 3305
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Bell-Phillip Television Productions
7800 Beverly Blvd
Suite 3371
Los Angeles, CA 90036

CBS Entertainment Production
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036-2188

Sony Pictures Television
10202 W. Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232

Executive Producers:

Maria Arena Bell
Paul Rauch
Anthony Morina
Cynthia J. Popp

Directors:

Mike Denney
Sally McDonald
Dean LaMont
Andrew Lee
Grant A. Johnson
Peter Brinckerhoff

Starring:

Peter Bergman - Jack Abbott
Eric Braeden - Victor Newman
Jeff Branson - Ronan Malloy
Sharon Case - Sharon Newman
Jessica Collins - Avery Clark
Jeanne Cooper - Katherine Chancellor
Doug Davidson - Paul Williams
Eileen Davidson - Ashley Abbott McCall
Melissa Claire Egan - Chelsea Lawson
Genie Francis - Genevieve Atkinson
Daniel Goddard - Cane Ashby
Michael Graziadei - Daniel Romalotti
Stacy Haiduk - Dr. Emily Peterson
Jessica Heap - Eden Baldwin
Amelia Heinle - Victoria Newman Abbott
Elizabeth Hendrickson - Chloe Mitchell
Bryton James - Devon Hamilton
Christel Khalil - Lily Winters
Christian LeBlanc - Michael Baldwin
Kate Linder - Esther Valentine
Billy Miller - Billy Abbott
Julia Pace Mitchell - Sofia Dupre
Debbi Morgan - Harmony Hamilton
Joshua Morrow - Nicholas Newman
Michael Muhney - Adam Newman
Stephen Nichols - Tucker McCall
Peter Porte - Ricky Williams
Greg Rikaart - Kevin Fisher
Marcy Rylan - Abby Newman
Melody Thomas Scott - Nikki Newman
Kristoff St. John - Neil Winters
Michelle Stafford - Phyllis Newman
Jess Walton - Jill Abbott Fenmore

Story:

The Young and the Restless originally focused on the personal and professional lives of two core families in Genoa City: the wealthy Brooks family and the poor Foster family. After a series of recasts and departures in the early 1980s, most of the original characters were written out and the core families were replaced with the Abbotts and the Williams. Other families such as the Newmans, the Winters, and the Fisher/Baldwins were also introduced through the years. One storyline that has run throughout almost all of the show's history is the feud between Jill Foster Abbott and Katherine Chancellor, one of the longest rivalries on any American soap opera.

SAG-AFTRA

The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is an American labor union representing over 150,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. The current organization is the result of the March 30, 2012 merger of the Screen Actor's Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

According to the SAG-AFTRA Mission Statement, the union seeks to: negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements that establish equitable levels of compensation, benefits, and working conditions for its performers; collect compensation for exploitation of recorded performances by its members, and provide protection against unauthorized use of those performances; and preserve and expand work opportunities for its members.

The Screen Actors Guild was founded in 1933 in an effort to eliminate exploitation of actors in Hollywood who were being forced into oppressive multi-year contracts with the major movie studios that did not include restrictions on work hours or minimum rest periods, and often had clauses that automatically renewed at the studios' discretion. These contracts were notorious for allowing the studios to dictate the public and private lives of the performers who signed them, and most did not have provisions to allow the performer to end the deal.

SAG-AFTRA is the primary performer's union in the United States. The union is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. SAG-AFTRA claims exclusive jurisdiction over motion picture as well as radio, television, Internet, and other new media. Internationally, SAG-AFTRA is affiliated with the International Federation of Actors.

How Soap Operas Are Cast

The soaps writers and producers agree on new roles they wish to add to the show. Then they give the script with the new roles to the casting directors, who in turn send out "breakdowns" of the new characters being cast.

These "breakdowns" actually are sent out by a service called "Breakdown Services" and are only available to licensed Talent Agencies.

Then the agents at these talent agencies submit photos, resumes, and sometimes "demo-reels" to the casting directors. Then the casting directors call in the actors that fit the roles they are casting, usually many many actors are called in.

Then they narrow it down to the best actors who came in and "call back" these actors to read again for the director, sometimes the writers, producer, etc. Then they narrow it down further, and sometimes there are 3 - 4 "call backs" before an actor is finally hired.

Soaps Operas generally do accept submissions from actors and extras directly. The casting director will call in an actor who sends a photo and resume on their own without an agent if they fit the look of the role(s) being cast. But they really do like to see soap opera credits on the resume.

Headshots

What a good headshot is NOT:

1) Your high school yearbook picture.

2) What you think you look like.

3) What your Mom, Dad, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, grandparent, priest girlfriend or best buddy thinks you look like.

4) Something created at Sears, Penny's, Glamour Shots or Willie's Weddings Unlimited.

5) A display ad for Cover Girl Makeup, Fashion Gal, Jim's Jewelry, Adidas sportswear, Garfield, The Simpsons, Harley Davidson, ad infinatum, etc., and so on.

A Good Headshot:

1) Really looks like YOU.

2) Doesn't hide the dime-sized purple birthmark on the bridge of your nose.

3) Looks like the camera caught you unaware that you were being photographed, and that you were really thinking about something specific, not just trying to look good for the camera.

4) Communicates your "essence" through your eyes, so that whatever you were specifically thinking about when the photo was snapped is something that will attract the viewer of the photo in a powerful way, so that the viewer will think, "Who is this person?"

How To Memorize Your Lines

1. First use a pencil and write down or each page of the script (you can also do several pages at a time as opposed to the entire script).

2. Take the page into a quiet room, shut the door, and eliminate all distractions.

3. Look at the first line in your notes and read it out loud. Then, close your eyes and say the line without looking at it.

4. Repeat the step above, this time with the first 2 lines.

5. Next, try it with 3 lines. Then 4. Repeat until you have memorized every line in the pages/script/sides.

After a study session, take a quick nap. New memories are very vulnerable, but studies have shown that sleep helps your new memories stick. After your nap, repeat the memory technique once more for maximum retention.

Important Safety Information

I always recommend using a PO BOX instead of your home address when submitting to television shows. This is another good reason that getting an agent as soon as possible is of utmost importance. Then your agents contact information is all that is listed on the resume, cover letter, and envelope. There is an earlier post about how to get an agent in my blog archives (or table of contents).

Also, NEVER meet someone outside of a professional environment such as a studio or casting/agents office. Do NOT meet someone at a restaurant, private residence, etc. You should ALWAYS let someone else know EXACTLY where you are going, WHO you are meeting, and WHEN you are going there.

And a parent or guardian must ALWAYS accompany minors. A parent or guardian should NEVER be out of eyesight of the minor, whether it be at auditions or on set.