Elizabeth Barnes, CSA
Liz is known as a matchmaker of talent who identifies and champions the right actor for each role she casts. With 20+ years of experience across diverse genres, she brings keen discernment and calm perspective to the casting process. Recognized by her peers with four prime-time Emmy nominations and Casting Society Artios nominations, she is most proud of assembling a team of excellent casting professionals with whom she collaborates.
Liz spent most of her childhood in Taipei, Taiwan, as an expat. Though she grew up watching little television (occasional Cosby Show episodes dubbed into Mandarin) and very few movies, she became excited about collaborative storytelling in high school theater in Arkansas. She pursued a theater degree, studying acting, directing, play analysis and costume design. After graduation, she and her husband (actor Brandon Keener) drove to Los Angeles sight-unseen, hoping for the best! They slept on pal Sarah Colonna’s couch until they found an apartment and jobs. Liz worked as a nightclub coat-check girl, security badge-maker at the Getty Museum, and weekend waitress at the legendary Silver Spoon diner. Liz got involved in the LA Theater scene as a performer, designer, director and producer at Knightsbridge Theatre, Sacred Fools, and ImprovOlympic. After a brief stint at a talent agency, she pursued a casting job as Meg Liberman’s assistant and found her casting home with Meg & Cami Patton, who mentored her through promotions to Casting Associate and eventually co-Casting Director.
A pivotal casting experience, and first on-screen credit, was working with Meg Liberman to cast Lisa Kudrow’s show “The Comeback” for which they received an Emmy Nomination. Liz spent countless hours reading actors for every role and fondly remembers realizing - after hearing 3 lines of her audition - that Malin Akerman was perfect to play the carefree ingenue foil to Kudrow’s Valerie Cherish. Another highlight was working with Aaron Sorkin on “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” finding actors who could handle his specific, smart, rapid-fire dialogue and receiving an Emmy nom for Drama casting. Liz met frequent collaborator Mike Kelley while casting his 1970’s-set show “Swingtown,” then worked with Cami Patton on the first season of Showtime’s “United States of Tara” for which they received an Emmy nom.
As her independent casting career continued, Liz worked with Mike Kelley again to assemble the cast for the ABC hit show “Revenge,” starring Emily VanCamp and Madeleine Stowe. She is especially proud of identifying Tom Ellis for the lead role in the long-running show “Lucifer,” along with the rest of the series regular cast. Her career moved back toward comedy when Jennifer Euston asked her to pitch in on west-coast casting for Jenji Kohan, Liz Flahive & Carly Mensch’s brilliant show “GLOW” for Netflix., for which Jen & Liz received an Emmy nomination.
Liz is passionate about stories that bring people together, especially those with themes of faith and social justice. An avid reader and theater-goer, she gets excited when favorite novels and memoirs are adapted for the screen. She is a public education advocate, serving on the board of Dolores Huerta Middle School’s PTSA. She’s most proud of casting Brandon Keener as her partner and spouse, and her favorite role is mom to their two fantastic kids.