The Circle. Love Is Blind. Indian Matchmaking. If you can make it onto one of those shows, “you're going to become a celebrity,” as Rich Leist, Netflix’s Director of Casting, Unscripted Content Acquisition, tells We Have the Receipts. Simple as that. But how can you get your foot in the door — and your face in front of the camera? That’s where Leist and casting director Erin Tomasello come in. 

“Clearly Instagram and social media — we use that to our advantage as a recruiting tool,” Tomasello, who helped cast The Circle, along with The Bachelor and America’s Got Talent, tells hosts Lauren Speed-Hamilton and Chris Burns in the latest episode of the podcast. But the casting game is much more complicated than a few simple taps on an iPhone. Keep reading for Erin and Rich’s hottest tips to getting cast on a Netflix reality show. See you on set! 

Tip 1: Be yourself. 

“I know it sounds cheesy, but be yourself,” Tomasello urges listeners. Although you may want to turn on the charm or emulate a proven reality TV star like The Circle’s Joey Sasso, that’s the wrong move. “The thing that comes through the most [to casting directors] is when you're just true to yourself. You're genuine, you're open, you're sharing things about you … and not trying to be what you think we want,” Erin says. “Every individual has their own spin. And together as a cast is what makes that so special. We don't want everybody to be jumping off a wall.”

Leist would rather you show up as your total self, than a version of someone else. “Authenticity, [even if] it's crazy authenticity — you can still read it,” he says. 

Tip 2: Know casting will figure you out eventually.

Make sure you follow Tip 1, since the truth will come out — no matter what. You can’t fool casting directors forever. Erin reveals that casting hopefuls have to do “several” meetings with directors “to really make sure we're getting who we think we're getting.” Decisions culminate in a final round. 

“That's when you get to dive in a little bit further and see the true side [of someone]. [It’s] when you rip the layers off of that first interview,” she says. “We've definitely had some people that get nervous.” 

Tip 3: Really shine in your audition tape. 

In the old days of reality TV casting, directors like Leist and Tomasello had to head out to social hotspots like clubs to see who had the “energy,” as Leist puts it, to be good TV. Now, in a pandemic world, it’s all about the audition video. When Tomasello’s casting, she asks for a 60-second clip to “sell” directors on a candidate.  

“That's hard to do, right? How are you going to get someone's attention?” Tomasello says. ‘Some people get real crazy and they try to be really creative, grab our attention. I think some people are really nervous about it and try to edit it, make it beautiful.” 

Tip 4: Use Netflix Casting to your advantage.

Reality TV is a vast universe — and getting bigger every day (See: Squid Game: The Challenge). Previously, casting hopefuls would have to apply “show by show,” Leist explains. That is, until he made a “hub” for every unscripted series with a single Netflix reality casting site. 

“Even if [a show] wasn't casting, you could go there and register your interest for it,” he says. “So you would be notified when there is a casting or when there's any casting for Netflix.” The site lives in perpetuity, so new opportunities are constantly surfacing. 

Check out the full podcast episode (video above, audio below) for the lowdown on everything from Squid Game: The Challenge casting to the surprising ways that shows like The Circle manage to score celebrity guests, including the Spice Girls and Lance Bass’… assistant.