The Backlash to Botox

[JohnMack]

Source: Wall Street Journal
TV Studios See Shortage
Of Lined, Lively Faces;
Importing British Stars
By BROOKS BARNES
April 6, 2007; Page W4

As an aging divorcee on the CBS sitcom "The New Adventures of Old Christine," Julia Louis-Dreyfus struggles to grow older with dignity, often sparring with the more-Botoxed-than-thou moms at her son's private school. In one memorable scene, Ms. Louis-Dreyfus, 46, ends an argument with the "meanie-moms" by shouting, "At least I have my original face!"

She's one of the few. The rarest commodity in TV these days, say veteran casting directors: stars without Restylane-frozen faces and collagen-inflated lips. Indeed, studios -- scrambling to finish casting the 113 pilots slated to go into production this month for the fall season -- say there's a shortage of familiar faces that look their age. Says independent casting director Jeff Meshel: "What's really jarring is that some of these people are not very old."


Call it TV's Botox crisis. For the first time, Hollywood's addiction to cosmetic surgery is affecting how television gets made. Studios such as Fox have started doing more movie-style screen tests for TV roles, in part to see how overzealous cosmetic treatments will play on screen. In recent years, Warner Bros. has doubled its casting staff in foreign countries like England and Canada where Botox is less common. And writers, particularly for daytime shows, say they now sometimes write plastic surgery into roles to explain to audiences why characters have retreaded faces.


Looking for Reality
"We try very hard for authenticity," says Marcia Shulman, Fox's executive vice president of casting. "If you're playing a mom you need to look like a mom. Otherwise it takes viewers completely out of the show." A rival studio says it made an offer to a star this spring on the highly unusual condition that she "lays off the injectibles." Ultimately, the actress lost the job when the network tweaked the script to call for a male character.


Both TV and the movies have been coping with the effects of cosmetic treatments and plastic surgery for years. But the problem is greater for television shows, because there are more close-ups. With the majority of camera shots in TV from chest to head, faces are more heavily scrutinized and harder to hide with lighting. As in movies, peer pressure and a cultural fixation on youth play a role in the Botoxing of the small screen. (While facial surgery and treatments are more prevalent among actresses, casting directors say that actors are also loaded up with injections.)

She's one of the few. The rarest commodity in TV these days, say veteran casting directors: stars without Restylane-frozen faces and collagen-inflated lips. Indeed, studios -- scrambling to finish casting the 113 pilots slated to go into production this month for the fall season -- say there's a shortage of familiar faces that look their age. Says independent casting director Jeff Meshel: "What's really jarring is that some of these people are not very old."


Call it TV's Botox crisis. For the first time, Hollywood's addiction to cosmetic surgery is affecting how television gets made. Studios such as Fox have started doing more movie-style screen tests for TV roles, in part to see how overzealous cosmetic treatments will play on screen. In recent years, Warner Bros. has doubled its casting staff in foreign countries like England and Canada where Botox is less common. And writers, particularly for daytime shows, say they now sometimes write plastic surgery into roles to explain to audiences why characters have retreaded faces.


Looking for Reality
"We try very hard for authenticity," says Marcia Shulman, Fox's executive vice president of casting. "If you're playing a mom you need to look like a mom. Otherwise it takes viewers completely out of the show." A rival studio says it made an offer to a star this spring on the highly unusual condition that she "lays off the injectibles." Ultimately, the actress lost the job when the network tweaked the script to call for a male character.


Both TV and the movies have been coping with the effects of cosmetic treatments and plastic surgery for years. But the problem is greater for television shows, because there are more close-ups. With the majority of camera shots in TV from chest to head, faces are more heavily scrutinized and harder to hide with lighting. As in movies, peer pressure and a cultural fixation on youth play a role in the Botoxing of the small screen. (While facial surgery and treatments are more prevalent among actresses, casting directors say that actors are also loaded up with injections.)

Also see post in Pharma Marketing Blog ("Botox Banality Not a Boon for TV Sitcoms")