CR 086: Casting Director Jamie Ember on Social Media, Audition Tapes, and the Ever-Changing Media Landscape

The “Reminders of Him” casting director discusses her career path and latest projects.

Jamie Ember, photo courtesy of Impact24 PR

As a kid growing up in the heart of the entertainment industry with a screenwriter-producer father, Jamie Ember knew she wanted to be an actress. Her parents weren’t supportive of her being a child star, but they encouraged her to take acting classes and try out for school plays, and said that once she turned 16, she could audition for television. But while in high school, she began to realize that perhaps acting wasn’t her calling after all.

“I went to this high school in Los Angeles called Harvard Westlake, where a lot of actors go and everyone is incredibly talented,” Ember says. “And I realized very quickly that I was not as good as people like Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein.”

Rather than give up her dream entirely, she pivoted, stage managing school plays while assisting the actors with their lines. “I turned 16, went on two auditions—one for Criminal Minds and one for the short-lived 10 Things I Hate About You TV show. I didn’t get either …