Mark Teschner, 2024 Emmy Silver Inductee Member/10 time Emmy winner, gave a few interviews in the past week or so, with the latest being a live interview tonight with Michael Fairman, regarding his lengthy career, spanning 42 years:
*Started as a casting director for Loving (which premiered in 1984) in 1982. Pursued acting in college, before coming to the realization that he liked the idea of being an actor more than actually living the life of an actor.
*Loving happened to be where he felt like he struck gold, when they were looking for three teenagers for a love triangle. MT's casting consisted of Luke Perry (Ned), Kelly Rutherford (Michelle) and Teri Polo (Kristin). According to MT, "the powers that be didn't want to pursue the storyline and they were not on the show for as long as they could." They all went on to have big careers.
*First ever casting job at GH was got Cesar Faison, back in 1989. Anders Hove was the first actor who auditioned for the role, which he sees as a "big winner."
*Steve Burton almost didn't get the part, for Gloria Monty specifically wanted Jason to be at least six feet tall, on par with then AJ actor Gerald Hopkins. She sent that recommendation as a last minute note to MT, who says that's the one and only time he was ever given such a note. MT had already submitted Steve; he recounts "I asked Steve how tall he was, and he said, '5'10 and a half,' and I told him we needed him to be 6-feet in the next fifteen minutes. Fortunately, he was wearing high top Dr. Martens, and we grabbed the L.A. Times and stuffed them with newspaper, and when he came out, he was 6-feet tall."
*Vanessa Marcil is someone he mentions as "Sometimes, it's just you know it when you see it." Vanessa didn't have many acting credits under her belt, just a few plays. MT remembers, "I saw hundreds of actors and I felt, on a gut level, that we hadn't found the combination of charisma, sex appeal, complexity and soulfulness, and then Vanessa walked in. Fortunately the powers-that-be agreed." He shared that's important, because at the end of the day it's the Executive Producer who makes the final decision, based on his recommendations.
*Prior to the premier of Port Charles, MT had to cast eight series regulars in the roles of interns. He chose from roughly 1750 actors, in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, traveling to NY and Chicago as well.