Is there a casting couch?

How much does the "casting couch" play into casting roles for movies and TV shows? There are so many talented attractive young things out there aching for their break, I would think that there are some lecherous producers and casting directors who would take advantage of their position for a little hot tail. Keep bitchin'—love the show!
—Gil, Raleigh, North Carolina

The B!tch Replies:  Oh, for crikey’s sake, if you want a blind item about an A-lister, just say so. I’m happy to give you one...but first you need to get taken to school.

You've opened the door to a shadowy fairy realm that runs parallel to the official, whitewashed Hollywood, a place that constantly spawns tales of, say, an actress seducing a producer to score a stronger Oscar campaign and an ingenue introducing the subtleties of reverse cowgirl to an older actor to advance her career.

Publicists and writers love to get wasted on $40 bottles of wine and sling these stories around at private dinners, insisting that every tale is true—and they probably are. But airing them here? You love me because I’m brilliant, child. And being brilliant means keeping lawsuit magnets to oneself. Besides, I want my friends in the E! legal department to continue to attend my parties, thanks.

Here’s what I can tell you: There is a casting couch in Hollywood. But it is—and please pardon me in advance—a fluid thing. Usually, it involves more subtle communication, and a more nuanced approach to sex, than traditional tales dictate. For example, a budding actress may choose her next sexual partner to match, coincidentally, with the costar of a top TV drama on which she’s dying to appear.

But it’s less likely that this same actress has been out-and-out instructed to sleep with an agent to get representation or to spend the night with a casting director for the same purpose.

"Most of the casting directors I know are gay," one über-connected publicist explains to this B!tch. "But the people who have managed to get ahead in this business are girls who know what they want and will do what they can to get ahead. Smart Hollywood women use what assets they have, but I see it as more of a tease aspect—as in, 'You could possibly get this if you do this.' "

Now, your treat. Here is a legend currently circulating in a very, very small circle about a very, very famous actress. About a decade ago, she is fresh and blushy and unknown. She, the mean rumor goes, sleeps her way onto the set of a popular drama by doffing her clothes for one of the male stars.

The show’s producer notices the actress looks real nice. The actress turns her sexual high beams onto a producer, who rewards her with a part on another show. The actress next sets her sights on film. She reveals her rosy flesh to an A-list actor, who in turn helps launch her career on the big screen. She is now wealthy, respected and considered one of the nicest and most professional girls in town.

Don’t bother writing to me to ask who it is. Here’s one clue: You’re not getting a clue.

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