Meet Me
I introduce myself by saying my name is Lori Wyman, and I say that I am a casting director by profession, and I am a human being my birth. I bleed when you cut me, I cry when you hurt me, I am human. And I like people to know that, I like actors to know that because casting directors are human beings first, and we just chose casting as our profession.
I was born in Miami. Anybody born in Miami? Okay, I was born in Miami, Mt. Sinai hospital Miami Beach. I went to high school, I could ride my bike from my house to this building easily and I used to do it all the time, I grew up right, right over here and now I live in Hollywood.
I started as an agent in 1979. I started as an agent. I was a talent agent for 5 years, and the reason I tell you that is because I know what it is to be from that side as well. So I was a talent agent for about 5 years and I loved it, I really do, I love the actors, I love working with the actors, I just find it so rewarding. What I did not find rewarding was when I was representing somebody and I thought they were really great, and I would call one of the casting directors up and I would say “Gotta see Roger…Gotta See Roger, Gotta See Roger,” and they’d go “Noooo, I don’t think Roger’s right for this.” And I’m like “But..But, But he is and I know he’s great,” and then they wouldn’t see him and that would really upset me. So after several years I said I want more of a hand in casting. I want to be able to bring the actors in whom I know, whom I see, and I want to be able to read them.
So I started working for the company that was handling the casting for the television series Miami Vice. And then, once I did that, then I went from there; I did a television series called B.L. Stryker which was a Burt Reynolds television series. And then from that I went to do Wise Guy which was another tv series, 21 Jumpstreet which was another series, and they did shows down here. I did those and then I opened this place, actually, in April of 1990, I believe is when I opened here.
When I started to introduce myself by saying I’m a human being by birth, I was casting an episode of Miami Vice and this guy—- I used to get all these thugs audition for me, real thugs! Ya know, not like actors to play thugs, but, ya know, this one’s been in jail for 14 years and he was a friend of the producer. Whatever, that could be a whole other weekend in itself, all that understory. But this guy, comes in, and as he walks out he looks at me and he goes “I just want you to know, you’re the only woman in the world who intimidates me.” And he says it like that, like really tough; “You’re the only woman in the world who intimidates me.” And I said “I don’t intimidate you, my job intimidates you.” And he looked at me, and he looked at me, and he looked at me and he went “Yea, you’re right.” I said “I know,” and then he left.
