Prós
Wonderful opportunities to get your foot in the door to bigger and more diverse set experiences. The more often you are available, the more you are booked. I met some wonderful people on set because of Central and I truly wouldn't have had the beautiful, scary, exciting, horrible, educating and enriching experiences on set if it weren't for this agency.
Contras
When I went to orientation/on-boarding back in 2019, they took a photo of us newcomers with some pretty low grade camera by a photographer who did not care if we looked presentable or not. We might as well been at the DMV, except they let me see my photo afterwards at the DMV! For years, I was stuck with this awful photo, they kept it as my primary photo and I know I lost work opportunities because of it. My hair, my face, a lot changed over the years, and they just kept this kept this bad photo of me cemented in their system. And even if you call them, they won't answer. Work can be as often as 5x/week to no work for months. They won't book you often if you are not thin, have too unique of facial characteristics and you don't look like your gender. I lost most work when I had I no longer had long hair, this is a big problem with Hollywood too. Generic and thin gets you booked. This agency has been around for a while and is very populated, so there will always be someone to take your spot or mark themselves available quicker than you. Central Casting will contact you regarding bookings, concerns, etc. and you are expected to pick up right away. However, if you have any questions or concerns, they often will not pick up their phones and won't get back to you even if you leave a voicemail. I get that they are managing hundreds of calls, I imagine, everyday. But as a working actor, it can feel incredibly de-humanizing and frustrating that this is normal for them to do this.