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Marcia Ross

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Marcia S. Ross
Born (1955-07-27) July 27, 1955 (age 68)
Occupations
  • Casting director
  • Film producer
Years active1975–present
SpouseJeff Kaufman
Children1
Parent(s)Joan Flug Ross
Richard C. Ross

Marcia S. Ross (born July 27, 1955) is an American casting director and film producer. She is best known for casting such films as Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, and The Princess Diaries. Her production credits include the documentaries Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life and Nasrin.

Early life and education[edit]

Marcia Ross was born in Mount Vernon, New York, the daughter of Joan (née Flug) and Richard Ross (1927–2012); her father was a New York State Assemblyman for the 88th District.[1][2] She attended Northwestern University (1973-1975) as a theatre major and has a B.A. from Antioch University Los Angeles (class of 2016).

Career[edit]

Early career[edit]

Ross' first professional job was as an apprentice in summer stock theatre at the Westchester Playhouse in Yonkers, New York, followed by touring with a children's theatre company working as an assistant stage manager for producers Barry and Fran Weissler in 1976. She worked at Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City in 1976 and the Monty Silver Talent Agency in 1977. Her first casting job was at CBS Television in New York City in 1979. She then relocated to Los Angeles to work with casting director, Judith Holstra - starting as her assistant, then associate, and partner in Holstra / Ross Casting between 1980 and 1988.[3]

As casting director[edit]

Ross worked as an independent casting director (Marcia Ross Casting)[4] and casting executive for motion pictures and television, working on feature films, network series, pilots, movies for television, and mini-series. She worked for 16 years as EVP for Casting for the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group,[4][5] and for five years as VP for Casting and Talent Development at Warner Brothers Television between 1988 and 1993.[4]

As a casting director, Ross has been credited with introducing several new acting talents,[4][6] such as Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You,[7][8][9] Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries,[10] Rachel McAdams in The Hot Chick,[11] Paul Rudd and Brittany Murphy in Clueless,[12][13][14][15][16] Chris Pine in The Princess Diaries 2,[6] Megan Fox in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen,[17] and Jennifer Garner in Mr. Magoo.[4]

Some of her other notable credits for casting include thirtysomething, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion,[18][19] The Lookout,[20] The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,[4] Parental Guidance, Small Time,[21] and Oblivion.[21]

As producer[edit]

Between 2012 and 2015, Ross co-produced the feature-length documentaries The State of Marriage, Father Joseph, and The Savoy King: Chick Webb and The Music That Changed America with Jeff Kaufman.[22]

In 2018, Ross co-produced Every Act of Life, a documentary on the playwright and LGBT activist Terrence McNally.[23] It was broadcast as part of the American Masters series on PBS[22][24] and received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.[25]

In 2020, Ross and Kaufman co-produced Nasrin, which follows the life and work of the Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, up until the time of her second arrest and imprisonment in 2018.[26] The film was nominated for Best Political Documentary at the 6th Critics' Choice Documentary Awards.[27]

Personal life[edit]

She is married to documentary filmmaker and business partner, Jeff Kaufman. She has one daughter, Alice, and two step-children, Anna and Daniel.[22][1]

Awards and nominations[edit]

For casting
Award Year Category Work Result Ref
Artios Awards 1988 Dramatic Episodic Casting thirtysomething Won [28]
Movie of the Week Casting LBJ: The Early Years Won
1990 Murder in Mississippi Won [29]
1992 Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story Nominated [30]
1993 Mini-Series Casting Sinatra Nominated [31]
1999 Feature Film Casting – Comedy 10 Things I Hate About You Nominated [32]
2002 The Princess Diaries Nominated [33]
2005 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Nominated [34]
2007 Feature Film Casting – Drama The Lookout Nominated [35]
2008 Feature Film Casting – Comedy Enchanted Nominated [36]
2012 The Muppets Nominated [37]
For producing
Award Year Category Work Result Ref
Emmy Awards 2020 Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series American Masters Nominated [25]
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards 2021 Best Political Documentary Nasrin Nominated [27]

Honorary accolades[edit]

Year Accolade Ref
2002 Outstanding Achievement in Casting award from the Hollywood Film Festival [38][39]
2005 Hoyt Bowers Award for Career Achievement in Casting by the Casting Society of America [40]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "RICHARD ROSS Obituary - Mount Vernon, NY | New York Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  2. ^ "Marcia S. Ross Engaged". The New York Times. 8 March 1987. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  3. ^ VOLAND, JOHN (1988-10-28). "Kudos". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on October 15, 2016. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Dunkley, Cathy (2004-04-02). "Buena Vista pix ups Ross". Variety. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  5. ^ Marketing, Buena Vista Pictures. "Marcia Ross Promoted to Senior VP of Casting for Disney's Three Motion Picture Banners". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  6. ^ a b Leopold, Todd (4 August 2013). "Casting directors: The unsung heroes of Hollywood". CNN. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  7. ^ Ojomu, Nola (3 August 2020). "Heath Ledger's 'charisma' helped land 10 Things I Hate About You role". Metro. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  8. ^ "The Story Behind Heath Ledger's Bleacher Scene In '10 Things I Hate About You'". HuffPost. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Heath Ledger's long journey from Perth to Hollywood comes up short". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  10. ^ Koehler, Robert (27 July 2001). "Film Review: 'The Princess Diaries'". Variety. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  11. ^ Harvey, Dennis (7 December 2002). "The Hot Chick". Variety. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  12. ^ Erbland, Kate (17 July 2015). "The Below-the-Line Star-Making Power of Modern Classic 'Clueless'". IndieWire. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  13. ^ "Whatever, forever: an oral history of Clueless". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  14. ^ Ojomu, Nola (22 July 2020). "Heartbreaking memory of Brittany Murphy as Clueless celebrates 25 years". Metro. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  15. ^ Chaney, Jen. "The Definitive Oral History of How Clueless Became an Iconic 90s Classic". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  16. ^ Luling, Todd Van (2015-05-07). "5 Things You Didn't Know About 'Clueless,' According To The Casting Director". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  17. ^ Harvey, Dennis (20 February 2004). "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen". Variety. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  18. ^ Jacobs, Matthew (2017-04-27). "'I Can't Believe How Cute I Look'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  19. ^ "Homecoming queens: Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, an oral history". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  20. ^ Turan, Kenneth (2007-03-30). "Smooth talkers". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  21. ^ a b "Marcia Ross on Creative Freedom in Casting 'Small Time'". Backstage.com. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  22. ^ a b c R, Cindy (20 May 2019). "Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life ~ Director's Statement - Jeff Kaufman". PBS. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  23. ^ EST, Joe Westerfield On 11/12/18 at 4:14 PM (2018-11-12). "'Every Act' is a touching documentary on the life of Tony-winning playwright, librettist Terrence McNally". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-03-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Carey, Matthew (2020-06-08). "'American Masters' Doc Reveals Impact Of Playwright Terrence McNally". Deadline. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  25. ^ a b "Marcia S. Ross". Television Academy. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  26. ^ Larki, Shadan (June 15, 2021). "Jeff Kaufman and Marcia Ross on Documenting Human Rights Activist Nasrin Sotoudeh and the beauty of Iranian Culture for 'Nasrin'". Awardsdaily.com.
  27. ^ a b Lewis, Hilary (14 November 2021). "'Summer of Soul' Sweeps Critics Choice Documentary Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  28. ^ "1988 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. October 26, 1988. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  29. ^ "1990 Artios Awards". www.castingsociety.com. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  30. ^ "1992 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. October 20, 1992. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  31. ^ "1993 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. October 19, 1993. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  32. ^ "1999 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. September 22, 1999. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  33. ^ "2002 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. October 17, 2002. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  34. ^ "2005 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. November 1, 2005. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  35. ^ "2007 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. November 5, 2007. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  36. ^ "2008 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. November 10, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  37. ^ "2012 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. October 29, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  38. ^ "Casting Brass: Studios". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  39. ^ Variety Staff (2002-10-10). "Stars shine at fest". Variety. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  40. ^ Chang, Justin (2005-10-30). "Casting org sets kudos". Variety. Retrieved 2017-05-26.

External links[edit]

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