James Calleri

James Calleri is an Associate Professor of Professional Practice and Co-Head of the MFA Acting concentration. He is a well-known casting director and co-owner in Calleri Jensen Davis, where he and partners Paul Davis and Erica Jensen cast theater, television and film. This creative casting partnership's credits include: the most recent Tony-winning play Purpose on Broadway in addition to the Broadway revivals of the award-winning Topdog/Underdog, The Piano Lesson, and For Colored Girls… James also cast the Tony-nominated Broadway productions of Burn This, Fool for Love, The Elephant Man, Hedwig and The Angry Inch, Of Mice and Men, Venus in Fur, Chicago, The Visit, and A Raisin in the Sun. Calleri has cast for Yale Rep, Classic Stage Company, Rattlestick, The Flea, Williamstown and McCarter among many others. Calleri began his career at Lincoln Center Theater and ABC Television and was the casting director for Playwrights Horizons for 10 seasons. TV casting credits include Love Life, Dickinson, Queens, The Path, Monk, Ed, Lipstick Jungle, to name a few. He is the author of Acting Professionally: An Essential Career Guide for the Actor, published by Methuen Drama. He has taught at the NYU Graduate Acting Program, NCSA, UC Irvine and Syracuse University, as well as guest artist at schools and colleges across the country and as far as the Shanghai Theater Institute. Calleri served on the board of the Casting Society of America for over 10 years. He holds degrees from Trinity University and an MFA from the University of California, Irvine. www.callerijensendavis.com