Pinned
Pinned is the informal casting status where a performer is the production’s confirmed first choice — stronger than a hold but preceding the formal offer and contract.
Prepared Sides
Prepared Sides are script pages given to actors in advance of an audition, allowing full preparation and memorization — contrasting with cold reads where material is given immediately before the session.
Profile Slate
A Profile Slate is an audition request for the performer to show their left and right profiles to camera — most common in commercial auditions where physical appearance must be evaluated from multiple angles.
Reader
A Reader is a person who reads other characters’ lines opposite an auditioning actor during an in-person audition, giving the performer a real scene partner to respond to.
Recurring Role
A Recurring Role is a television performance agreement where an actor returns as the same character across multiple episodes without the full-season commitment of a series regular.
Regular Role
A Regular Role (or series regular) is a full-season television contract as a core cast member — providing consistent employment, predictable income, and the most favorable SAG-AFTRA terms.
Roll Calls
Roll Calls are the process of systematically contacting actors or their representatives to check availability for specific production dates — a standard casting and scheduling practice.
Second Hold
A Second Hold is a casting status where an actor is provisionally reserved as the backup choice — behind the first hold — and may convert to a booking if the first-hold performer becomes unavailable.
Taft-Hartley
Taft-Hartley is a legal provision allowing a non-union performer to work on one SAG-AFTRA production before being required to join the union, initiated by a production filing a formal report.
Talent Holding Deal
A Talent Holding Deal is a contract paying an actor to remain exclusively available for a specific project during development — common in TV development when networks secure preferred talent.