Landing high-profile guest stars to populate the world of Quinta Brunson’s “Abbott Elementary” became considerably easier for casting director Wendy O’Brien, who won an Emmy in 2022, as the ABC comedy’s popularity skyrocketed in the last three years. But juggling the flurry of cameo requests for Season 3 came with its own set of unique challenges — one O’Brien welcomed.
“In Season 1, nobody knew who we were,” she said. “In Season 2, the pulse of the show kept getting bigger and wider. In Season 3, it was unbelievable the people who were pitched to me and, I can only imagine, to Quinta.”
Even with the increase in volume of phone calls coming into the casting department, the directive has largely remained the same since the series first began. “The cameos have to make sense so they aren’t there to be distracting,” O’Brien explained. “They still push the story forward and they still are proper in the world.”
There is an unofficial blueprint that O’Brien goes back to when seeking out talent — up-and-coming comedians and established stars alike — to add to the casting well. “Because the tone of the show is so grounded and because of the mockumentary [style], it’s a very subtle comedy,” she said. “Reactions are very important because we hang onto them so much more than a normal show. Not everybody has that muscle. It’s really being mindful of the brand.”
While “Abbott Elementary” has brought in Taraji P. Henson, Tatyana Ali, Kevin Hart, Keegan-Michael Key and Ayo Edebiri for significant arcs, the series’ biggest casting coup to date is Bradley Cooper.
For the post-Oscars episode that aired March 10, Cooper made a memorable appearance as an impromptu visitor at “show-and-tell” day when he stopped by his favorite Philly deli near the school and was spotted by a student who asked him to come to class. The ongoing joke was that no one, not even the adults, could pinpoint why he was famous or accurately name the roles he was known for.
Cooper’s casting was a mixture of luck, timing and delicate logistical gymnastics, O’Brien recalled. It was a boon that the appearance even happened as Cooper, a Philadelphia native, was in the middle of a press blitz for “Maestro.” “We really didn’t know for quite some time if it was going to happen — and not because he didn’t want to do it,” she said.
The original hope was to fill the role with an actor of considerable notoriety, ideally with ties to the region since “Abbott Elementary’s” comedy leaned into the tonal specificities of Philadelphia. “He was so unbelievably busy that even to get four hours with him in Los Angeles [was difficult]. It was a very fragile casting, yet it was probably the easiest deal I made all season. He was so easy and so happy to be there.”
The first two scripts for Season 4 recently passed through O’Brien’s desk, which she said are “funnier than any of the other [episodes] already.” And she has a wish list brewing of “dream guys” she’d like to add to the arsenal this season: Jay Ellis and Daveed Diggs.
“It’s exciting, just knowing it’s a more comfortable process in that we all know each other better,” O’Brien said. “There’s more of a shorthand, which makes it more efficient. Then you can be less nervous and come up with crazy ideas.”
This story first ran in the Down to the Wire Comedy Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Read more from the Down to the Wire Comedy Series issue here.
