Central casting is the term for the department of a movie studio that is responsible for hiring actors, especially for non-star or uncredited roles and extras. As such, it has developed into a jargon term denoting a generic or or a stereotypical person of some kind, that is now in widespread use outside of the movie business.

Confusingly, Central Casting is also the name of several actual casting agencies, and of a broker for MUSH players.

Central casting is also a jargon term used in the television industry to refer to the act of having news programs for many stations produced at a central facility.

Quotes

• In many respects, [Tim Berners-Lee] looks like an Englishman from central casting - quiet, courteous, reserved. ("The Quiet Englishman": Profile of Tim Berners-Lee)
• The venerable Chinese woman who popped out of the darkness to hand me a IBM punch card looks like she's straight out of central casting for a B-movie about dry cleaning. ("Complainer, Master Complainer")

References

• — includes an example of the slang use of "central casting" as applied to the recruitment industry
• "Central Casting." OnLine NewsHour. Accessed on January 10, 2005. — Central casting of news

External links

• Central Casting, a casting agency in Washington D.C.
• Central Casting, a broker for peripheral characters in MUSHes
• "Central Casting is a registered trademark of Entertainment Partners."
• West Coast Central Casting, a casting agency
• Chumleigh’s Central Casting, a casting agency