The Producers Initially Refused To Watch Joseph Gilgun’s Audition Tape
It’s no surprise that one of the most beloved characters from the comics has quickly become a favorite on the television series. But unlike co-star Ruth Negga, Joseph Gilgun didn’t have quite such an easy time securing the role of Cassidy the vampire.
“His mother videotaped him in their basement and sent a video in that [showrunner] Sam Catlin watched,” Goldberg recalled. “And we just didn’t [watch it], for like weeks. We just kept meeting with all these people and Sam kept being like ‘you’ve gotta watch this Joe guy.'”
“And for some reason,” Rogen added. “We were like ‘no, we’ll be auditioning actors with agents.’ And we didn’t realize that he was an actor with an agent, just the tape had come in from his basement. But we finally watched it, and we were just kind of blown away by it, and then we Skyped with him and it was like talking to the character. It was amazing.”
That initial conversation was more than enough to convince Rogen and Goldberg they had found their vampire. “He’s the least disappointing person you could ever meet,” said Goldberg. “He’s like everything you ever hoped someone was.”