For Patrick Schumacker, the co-showrunner and executive producer of ABC’s hit sitcom Abbott Elementary, it’s the casting of the show that’s made it “this force of nature.”
Leading the charge in this domain is Wendy O’Brien, whose primary challenges several seasons in, with the core cast already assembled, have consisted of delivering strong child actors and a who’s who of guest stars to the series.
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While Schumacker admits that writer-producers are sometimes “a little bit leery” coming into work with a cast full of child actors, given how “unpredictable” kids can be, they have obviously been necessary to fill out the world of Abbott, a mockumentary following the lives of teachers working at a Philadelphia public school.
In conversation with Schumacker and co-showrunner and EP Justin Halpern on The Process, O’Brien explains that what she’s generally looking for in this area is “kids that seem the most natural and kid-like.”
Sometimes, O’Brien says, “they’re the ones that are doing the weirdest things, but it feels just organically honest, and not rehearsed or coached. So I think that’s our biggest weeding tool, is just who’s natural and happy to be there.”
The other aspect of casting roles written for children is simply reading a lot of them for each part — up to 25 or 30 per role, O’Brien says. Oftentimes, she’ll first bring a kid into the room to read for one part, and then continue reading them for different ones until she hits on the perfect fit.
“Some kids are a little more outgoing and some… are shyer, how they present on camera, but still just as talented,” the casting director reflects. “So we try and keep a tally of what kids were maybe not right for that specific role, and we’ll reread them down the road.”
Noting that “casting kids is really, really difficult,” Halpern applauds O’Brien for the work she’s done thus far.
“Having done a couple shows with kids before, to find natural kids that haven’t gone through the Nickelodeon-Disney sausage-making machine…Pat always jokes that those kinds of kids always feel like they’re hosting a prank show, and you can’t get a real moment out of them because they’ve been polished within an inch of their life,” he explains. “So the work I feel like you’ve done that, to me, always blows me away on the show, it’s just like time and again, you’re able to find these kids who do give these really natural reads, and who can convey what we need them to convey.”
Turning to the subject of guest stars, Halpern noted that Season 3 features “the most super famous people” ever seen on the show. Those featured this time around included Bradley Cooper, Questlove, Kevin Hart, Keegan-Michael Key, and Jalen Hurts, Brandon Graham and Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles, to name just a few.
Halpern also had to admit that coordinating these kinds of appearances tends to be “a giant pain in the ass.” But while O’Brien might have been more reticent to pursue some of these talents back in the first two seasons, the situation has changed, now that Abbott Elementary is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning phenomenon.
“Season 3, I felt like I was getting more incoming calls than outgoing. I mean, I’ve had some amazing people pitched that would love to be on the show,” said O’Brien. “I think some of the names we talked about, we all kind of knew may be tougher than others for other reasons, but I think anybody who has seen the show is a fan. So I wasn’t as intimidated this year at all, or last season, because the odds are you’re probably going to get them now.”
O’Brien says that her favorite part of the work she does — on Abbott, and in general — is seeing actors that have been “working at their craft for a long time” finally find that role that fits them like a glove.
“I find some of our guest cast have had that, where there’s an actor who’s not necessarily well known, and when they get that chance, that’s probably the most satisfying experience to watch,” she says. “Then, also to be a part of the conduit of that, of finding this material and finding the perfect puzzle piece for it, or somebody that heightens what’s already great on the page. When you see something actually get better than it is on the page, that’s a pretty huge moment for casting.”
Schumacker found this to be the case with Josh Segarra, Kimia Behpoornia and Ben Norris, actors featuring opposite the show’s creator and star, Quinta Brunson, when she briefly departs her teaching job at Abbott to work at the school district.
“To write for all of these new faces and make them, I think, as richly drawn as our series regulars…and then writing to those characters based on what we got to know of those actors, as well, that’s super gratifying, I think for writers, too,” he shares.
Returning for its fourth season on October 9, Abbott Elementary this year scored nine Emmy nominations in total. O’Brien is a five-time nominee who took home a statuette for her work on the show in 2022, whereas Halpern and Schumacker have now been nominated three times for Outstanding Comedy Series.
In conversation on The Process, O’Brien, Schumacker and Halpern also delve into the initial challenge of bringing the show’s core cast together “in an uncharted time of Zooms and a pandemic,” the unique aspects of casting a mockumentary, why seeing Janelle James’ audition tape felt to O’Brien “like seeing Steve Carell for the first time on The Office,” and more. Watch the talk in full above.