This question comes from someone who didn't ask to have his name omitted but I think I will anyway. I have to scold this person a little…
Just wondering in your many years as a voice director, have you ever "blacklisted" someone or have you always been willing to give someone another chance? Have you ever hired someone who was "blacklisted?"
I know you have talked about actors in the past that claimed they could not get work because they were listed and I do know that due to several reasons, an actor can get him/herself blacklisted due to their behaviors or unreasonable demands. My question I guess is how do you feel about "blacklisting" actors and actresses.
As Inigo Montoya said in The Princess Bride, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." Blacklisting is when a group of people in power form a conspiracy to keep someone from working. It's like when all the networks agreed not to hire actors or writers who had been accused of being sympathetic to Communists. It does not even remotely apply when all we're talking about is one person with hiring power deciding not to hire someone. If an editor at some comic book company decides my writing sucks and they won't use my services any longer, I am not being "blacklisted." I am just being rejected. Every second of every day, some writer or actor is being rejected for a job they'd like to have. That's how it works.
Phrased more properly, your question is probably, "Have you ever decided not to use an actor again and then later changed your mind?" I don't think so. I don't think I've ever decided not to hire an actor ever again. At worst, my opinion of someone has fallen a few notches and they become less likely to be my selection. But there's never any "I'll never work with him again" list.
In most cases when a part needs to be cast, I can think of ten people who could do it. I hire one and if he doesn't work out…well, the next time I need that type, I'll try first to book one of the other guys. I think that's how everyone does it.
One does hear bad things about certain actors and I generally do not let that influence my choices. A couple times, I've been aware that some other voice director had a terrible time with Actor X…and then I hired the guy and he was fine. And when I'm the one who had the bad time with the guy, I don't tell others who might hire him unless I'm specifically asked. The point is it's not "blacklisting." It's just that when you're entrusted with hiring power, it's your job to say, "I think I'll hire Sam instead of Artie." So you make the best decision you can make.
