Right For The Role with John Frank Levey
Right For The Role with John Frank Levey
Podcast Description
"Right For The Role" is hosted by legendary casting director John Frank Levey, whose four-decade career and four Emmy Awards reflect his uncanny ability to recognize who's right for the role.
As the casting visionary behind revolutionary television shows like "ER," "The West Wing," "Shameless," and "China Beach," Levey has not only witnessed but actively shaped the careers of some of Hollywood's most recognizable talents.
Through intimate conversations with accomplished guests like Eric LaSalle, Sasha Alexander, Dennis Dugan, Noah Wiley, Shanola Hampton, and others, listeners will discover inspiring stories about finding one's authentic path in both life and career. Drawing from his vast experience, Levey guides conversations that uncover valuable insights about taking risks, advocating for what you believe in, and discovering your true calling.
Whether you're in the entertainment industry or simply navigating your own path, each episode offers honest, unfiltered discussions about defining moments, career transformations, and the journey to embracing the roles we're meant to play.
So join John Frank Levey -- recipient of the Casting Society of America's prestigious Hoyt Bowers Award for Lifetime Achievement -- as he shares his exuberance for the craft and helps listeners find inspiration to discover their own role of a lifetime.
The first episode launches December 11th.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on themes such as career transformation, artistic authenticity, and personal growth. Episodes highlight experiences from notable guests, covering topics like Noah Wyle's groundbreaking role in ER, Tim Bagley's commitment to authenticity as an openly gay performer, and Eriq La Salle's conversations around race and representation in Hollywood.
“Right For The Role” is hosted by legendary casting director John Frank Levey, whose four-decade career and four Emmy Awards reflect his uncanny ability to recognize who’s right for the role. As the casting visionary behind revolutionary television shows like “ER,” “The West Wing,” “Shameless,” and “China Beach,” Levey has not only witnessed but actively shaped the careers of some of Hollywood’s most recognizable talents.
Through intimate conversations with accomplished guests like Eriq La Salle, Sasha Alexander, Dennis Dugan, Noah Wiley, Shanola Hampton, and others, listeners will discover inspiring stories about finding one’s authentic path in both life and career.
Drawing from his vast experience, Levey guides conversations that uncover valuable insights about taking risks, advocating for what you believe in, and discovering your true calling.
Whether you’re in the entertainment industry or simply navigating your own path, each episode offers honest, unfiltered discussions about defining moments, career transformations, and the journey to embracing the roles we’re meant to play.
So join John Frank Levey — recipient of the Casting Society of America’s prestigious Hoyt Bowers Award for Lifetime Achievement — as he shares his exuberance for the craft and helps listeners find inspiration to discover their own role of a lifetime.
Dana Delany has built a career around following her instincts, embracing meaningful roles, and allowing her personal values to shape the choices she makes professionally.
In this deeply personal conversation, John Frank Levey reconnects with his longtime friend to explore where Dana’s creative drive began, from childhood trips to the theater in Connecticut to her early experiences on Broadway and the realization that acting was a calling she had felt since she was three years old.
John and Dana revisit their time working together on China Beach, including the audition that eventually led Dana to the role of Colleen McMurphy and the unusual story of how she accidentally showed up for her audition a day early. Their conversation also examines the impact of that series, the authenticity Dana brought to Colleen, and how the experience taught her to trust her instincts while recognizing the responsibility actors carry when their work reaches millions of people.
Dana also opens up about the creative choices that have shaped her career, including her attraction to complicated female characters, her lifelong fascination with film noir, and her decision to turn down roles when something about the material or the people behind it did not align with her standards. John and Dana discuss the changing nature of television, the loss of intimate storytelling, the evolution of the audition process through self-tapes, and why Dana has increasingly gravitated toward independent films and projects with people she trusts.
The conversation ultimately becomes an exploration of identity, family, personal responsibility, and the lifelong process of discovering who you are through the choices you make. Dana reflects on using performance as a child to connect with her parents, the significance of her father seeing her perform on Broadway before his death, and the three words she chooses to describe herself today: curious, present, and a loner.
Key takeaways from the conversation:
- Dana explains why she knew from an extremely young age that she needed a creative life and how her childhood experiences with theater helped shape that calling
- John and Dana revisit the audition process for China Beach and how Dana’s instinctive connection to Colleen McMurphy helped create one of the roles she still identifies with most strongly
- Dana discusses why she has deliberately turned down major opportunities throughout her career, explaining how her personal standards and responsibility to audiences have influenced those decisions
- The conversation explores the importance of authentic human interaction in acting, from traditional auditions and working together in a room to the increasingly technology-driven world of self-tapes and remote casting
- Dana shares deeply personal reflections about her parents, the loss of her father at a young age, and the ways acting allowed her to connect with her family while discovering who she was becoming
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