Life & Work with Dea Vise

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dea Vise.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started? 
Like many people in Los Angeles who aren’t from here, I started out as an actress. I got a day job as a casting assistant for a casting director who cast commercials for Japan. This was 25 years ago. We would get thousands of headshots and modeling cards a day and go through them by hand. There was a sign on the wall that said, “Don’t bleed on the headshots.” Papercuts were rampant! We hired gorgeous models and 30-year-old, fat, white comedians mostly, except for the celebrities. At that time, the internet wasn’t as rampant as it is now, and celebrities would do commercials for Japan when commercials were frowned upon by Americans. I worked there for a few years and then started working for other commercial casting directors and eventually ended up at Billy DaMota Casting where I worked for 19 years before starting my own casting company. At this point, I cast mostly independent feature films and am currently working for French director Luc Besson on my third film for him. “Dogman” is being released at the end of March nationwide and “June and John” will be released soon after, I hear. I have cast or worked on over 100 feature films as well as commercials, music videos, industrial videos, and theater. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh man, I have had some struggles! The pandemic was insane to get through, and then having that followed by the SAG/AFTRA and WGA strikes almost did me in completely. 

As to hilarity in casting, there will always be someone in the room that boggles your mind. Once, when Billy DaMota and I were casting an action movie, this older man showed up. The guy was supposed to be this 25-year-old muscle stud who was brilliant at martial arts. The older man was short, thin, and very hairy. It was strange, but I let him in the room to audition. The audition itself was supposed to be saying the lines in the scene to Billy, who was reading with him and then doing some action martial arts moves. Oh, did I mention he was wearing a fur thong? Anyway, after he did the reading, he went to show his action moves and kicked high in the air right in front of us. He was not wearing underwear. The view was hilarious and disturbing, and Billy yelled out, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” while I almost fell off of my seat laughing. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Casting is like painting with people. It’s a three-dimensional form of what the actor looks like, how they move, how they sound, and literally the vibe they have reacting to other people. Then you try to mix all of these actors together to create the movie. It is very easy to mess it up, so having some control over at least the main players in the film is important. 

I am most proud of “DogMan” and “June and John” that I cast for brilliant director Luc Besson. I am working on casting a third film for him right now and this one is very exciting, too. 

I think I’m known as an actor’s casting director. I do general interviews, go to theatre, and go to classes to find actors. I am mostly known as part of the team that (mostly) shut down the Pay to Play Casting Director Workshop Scheme in Hollywood, in which actors had to pay for pre-reads, which are early auditions for the casting director. That behavior and related comments got me kicked out of the Casting Society of America, but it was well worth it, in my opinion, to make it fair for actors to compete in an already tough market without having to dole out cash to do it beyond the already high cost of headshots, etc. 

What are your plans for the future?
Wow, plans for the future? I have no idea. My partner for many years, Billy DaMota, retired a few years ago and is now having a blast gardening and floating down the Rogue River in Oregon near his family. I am not sure what I will do. I love working right now and look forward to these Luc Besson movies being released. I also cast this beautiful Hmong family picture called “The Harvest” that I hope gets theatrical release this year. I am working on a few movies now that I have high hopes for, as well. 

I have been taking English riding lessons at a barn in South Pasadena, growing herbs and flowers for the hummingbirds, and listening to Country Music. 

I think I’ll just keep on getting up every the morning and cowgirling my way through the days, loving what I do for a living! 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: dea-vise
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSoRhpgwjiU&t=36s