In this interview, host Stewart Cohen talks with Dallas‑based actress Cristina Martinez about her ten‑year acting career and the shift from traditional in‑person auditions to virtual casting. Cristina explains how virtual auditions let her submit for multiple jobs across several states daily, saving travel costs and offering flexibility for actors with other jobs. She describes her portable home audition setup—a collapsible double‑sided green/blue screen, a T‑stand, and a ring light from Amazon—allowing her to film anywhere. Cristina typically receives about ten auditions per week, sourced half from her agency and half from self‑submissions. She uses Casting Networks, Actors Access, Backstage.com, and her personal casting file to find opportunities, and when direction is sparse she contacts her agent, emails the casting director, or resorts to AI tools like ChatGPT. She advises always shooting horizontally unless a client explicitly requests vertical (e.g., TikTok‑style) videos. Dressing for the role and maintaining a prop closet helps clients visualize the character, even if casting directors focus mainly on talent. Networking tips include promptly thanking and following up with directors and on‑set contacts to keep her name top‑of‑mind. Cristina tracks only the jobs she books rather than every audition, treating her career as a business. For emerging actors she stresses consistent, high‑quality setups, reading instructions carefully, confirming audition tickets, and not letting rejection discourage them—staying casual yet invested improves chances. Finally, she shares her Instagram handle (@cristina martinez) for viewers to follow her work.
Chapters
Hey, Christina, how you doing?
Good. How are you, Stewart?
I am doing great. Hey, so we have gotten together here today to talk about virtual casting and what it feels like to be a talent in this world of doing so many virtual castings versus, you know, the old school of in-person. First of all, why don't you just tell us a little about— a little bit about you? How long have you been doing this?
Absolutely. So I have been acting for I've been doing this for 10 years now. I started back in college, so I started a little later on than everybody else, but I started at UNT when I was getting my bachelor's in theater performance. And then I signed with my agency here in Dallas, Texas back in 2017. And I have been doing this ever since full-time.
Okay. Do you recall the first job we did together?
It was either the Bud Light seltzer print shoot or it was the Baylor Scott& White.
I think Baylor— Baylor was before Bud Light. Does that make sense?
Yeah, that was like the beginning of my career.
Yeah, 7 years ago. What in general are the benefits versus drawbacks of virtual casting?
There are so many benefits as far as virtual auditions go. I think that as talent, you're able to submit for multiple auditions within a day, and it could be for different locations. So I'm able to audition for jobs not only here in Texas, but also in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, LA. So that does have its perks. You're also saving money on gas and, you know, just travel costs, things like that. And if you have a full-time job outside of acting, it's a lot more flexible compared to, oh, I have to take the day off just for me to drive all the way to Austin for what, an audition that was 5 to 10 minutes, right? And come all the way back. And if you bomb it, then, then you're just thinking about how bad you did during the audition.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey, Marcus, can you help this fan understand rollback prices? Can you explain everyday low prices to this fan?
What do you miss about in-person castings?
I really miss being able to see the casting directors in person, seeing how they're doing. There is this sort of energy that you can get in the room compared to when you're doing an audition or callback via a camera or Zoom. If I'm in person and I'm going along through the audition, I can kind of get a feel of what they are thinking versus when I'm doing something virtual, all their screens are turned off. So I have no idea if they're satisfied, if they're not feeling it. And so in-person does have its advantages.
So what's your home setup like?
Yeah, so this screen that you see behind me is one of those pop-up collapsible screens that a lot of photographers use as well. It's double-sided, so it's a blue screen and then the other side is a green screen. But a lot of actors use these 'cause they're just really easy and compact And I can just take it anywhere I go. So if I'm traveling out of town, maybe visiting some family, I just take this and I have a little T-stand that goes with it. And then I also have a ring light as well that I got from Amazon. And that's it. That is my setup.
Approximately how many auditions do you do a week?
On a really good week, I'd say I'd be getting auditions almost every single day. Maybe the most I've gotten in one day was like 3 or 4. So I'd say in a week, 10 auditions. Hey guys, what's up? It's Christina and I'm here with a bestie at Family Dollar where we are looking for some accessories. So get ready with us for a holiday party. We need more. Make your holidays. Hey.
So now, now do they all come from your agents?
Um, some come from my agents and then I do enjoy self-submitting. So some, It's kind of half and half.
When you do, like, do a self-submit, what, like, feeds do you look at for auditions?
Oh, so I use Casting Networks or Actors Access. I also use backstage.com, which is really great for people who are just starting. And then I also use my casting file as well.
How do you find direction when not a lot of direction is given?
Either A, Talk to my agent or email the casting director. I don't wanna waste their time. I wanna make sure that I'm trying to deliver what they want, or I'll just put it in ChatGPT.
Do you do a couple of different reads for everything?
I do. Some auditions require 2 takes, so I try to give a variety of the takes that they want, but I like to have a variation. That way they can see my range.
Is there any secret sauce to like how you keep your name out there?
Besides like submitting and making sure my availability is wide open, just following up with people and clients, you know, thanking them for their time. When you're on set, that's a great time to network and talk to people and, you know, just follow up and say, hey, you know, like, just please consider me for the next project. Would love to work with you. Just basically being appreciative for them taking the time to consider you for their project.
Okay. And this is a question. This is a true/false question. Vertical or horizontal on the videos?
Horizontal, unless if they state we want a TikTok-styled video, and they will specifically state that. If they don't say that, then it's always gonna be horizontal.
Perfect.
Good.
We love that too. A lot of people give it vertical and we're like, ooh, makes it hard to show for us.
Yeah.
Okay. Tips for young actors. Ooh.
Okay. Make sure you know you have a, a good setup, even if you're traveling and on vacation, be consistent. Follow through. Make sure that you are confirming your audition tickets. I have heard so many times that there have been talent where they don't confirm the ticket, and the casting's like, "Well, do I know she's gonna submit or not?" Read the instructions. For some reason, people yes for that. Like, and if you have a question, either email your agent or perhaps maybe someone else who got the same audition, because I'm pretty sure there's gonna be other people who have the same. Right.
But read the instructions is always important. Do you try to dress for the role? Yes.
So I actually— this is— so where I'm right now, I am— this is my acting office, and I have a prop closet with all of my different outfits that I use. It really does make a difference, not much so for the casting director, but for the clients, because sometimes the clients need a little bit more to imagine you in the role. The casting director may be like, yeah, she's great, she has the talent. But the clients don't know you, right? So you want to try to do your best as far as really playing yourself into the role and, and being that character. Now, you don't need to go all out, but it does make a difference.
That's good because sometimes, like, you know, we'll cast people that I know, and I know that they'd be great for the role. And they come in sweatpants with their hair up, you know, coming from a workout. And it's— and the client, it's not me, it's not us. You're right, the agency, we got multiple people downstream looking at it. Okay, dumb question, but I will ask it. Do you keep track of how many auditions you do versus how many jobs you land?
I actually just keep track of the jobs that I book. I don't necessarily keep track of how many auditions I get. If I wanted to, I could go on to the casting sites and just look at all my requests and things like that, but I just keep track of the jobs that I book.
So you've been doing it 10 years, you're all over the place, you're super successful, you're diligent, you're on it, you treat it like truly a business. I think that's really admirable.
Thank you.
And I think a lot of people will see this and, and learn a lot from, from the information you're putting down. Anything else you want to add to a young actor's brain?
I just say, you know, don't let that first no let you down. I know when I first started, I got really, really bummed Now I just submit the audition and just let it go and just forget about it and move on. Not that I don't care. It's like the less pressure I put on myself, the more likely I'm going to get that job because I think that some clients and casting directors can kind of sense if you're very desperate for a job. And so I think the more just kind of like casual you are about it, but obviously you care about the job, then more likely you're going to book it or make a good impression.
All right. Well, I think we got a ton of information So, I think we've covered a lot of information here, and this was really fun. But so if people want to find you and people want to see what you do, where could they go?
Yeah, so you can guys, um, follow me on Instagram. My tag is @Christina with no H, so it's C-R-I-S-T-I-N-A, the letter L, and then my last name Martinez. And you guys can find me on my Instagram there.
All right, well, on that, I'm going to say thanks. Thanks for doing this, and I really appreciate it. It was great to see you.
