central casting

American  

noun

Movies.

1. an agency, studio department, etc., responsible for hiring actors, especially bit players or extras.

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Etymology

Origin of central casting

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

“If you were making a movie, he would be central casting for a Philip Roth‑esque kind of psychiatrist,” said John Burnham, a longtime Hollywood talent agent who was Gilberg’s patient for decades starting in his 20s.

From Los Angeles Times

Rocha said that as a spokesperson for American Indians, Stevens was straight out of central casting.

From The Wall Street Journal

The chief justice arrived from central casting, in the guise of the midwestern dad next door, remembering the Indiana farmland of his boyhood and promising that he viewed the job through the eyes of another American civic religion: Baseball.

From Salon

Ms. Spanberger, a mother of three and former CIA officer, is a candidate from central casting for appealing to suburban swing votes.

From The Wall Street Journal

Still, between the hot cases and the cold cases, with their collateral damage; hippie squatters from central casting chanting “Our Earth, our land;” a mysterious gold tattoo, indigenous glyphs and old mines — there is an especially tense scene involving a tight tunnel and rising water — the show stays busy.

From Los Angeles Times