| 释义 |
Central Casting, n. and a. orig. and chiefly U.S.
Brit. |ˌsɛntr(ə)l ˈkɑːstɪŋ|, |ˌsɛntr(ə)l ˈkastɪŋ|, U.S. |ˌsɛntr(ə)l ˈkæstɪŋ|
Forms: also with lower-case initials.
[‹ the name of the Central Casting Corporation, a U.S. organization established by the major Hollywood studios in 1926 to provide a single, no-fee employment agency supplying extras and bit-part players for films (since 1976 a private company).]
A. n. (A name for) an agency or department which supplies actors for background and minor parts in films, television programmes, etc., often regarded as selecting solely on the basis of the type of character required. Hence: a (notional) source for stereotypical, quintessential, or generic examples of particular types; esp. in (right, straight, etc.) out of Central Casting.
A proprietary name in the United States.
1927Havre (Montana) Daily News-Promoter 8 May 6/2 Orders for extras drift into ‘Central Casting’ intermittently during the day. 1936B. C. Spewack & S. Spewack Boy meets Girl ii. ii. 64 Central Casting, please... Hello. I want a handsome young extra, a gentleman, a little down at the heel, not too well fed, neat business suit—shiny but well pressed; quiet manner. 1941Washington Post 21 Sept. vi. 3/4 The aged codgers in the windows of the University Club looking as though they were types sent over from Central Casting specifically for the purpose. 1962Reno Evening Gaz. 21 Dec. 4/5 The rest of the officers [on the ship] are right out of Central Casting. Looks like a full muster for that picture ‘The Longest Day’. 1991Harper's Mag. May 64/1 A villain out of central casting, with nuclear ambitions and a weakness for poison gas. 2000R.C. Harvey Consummate Comic Book in W. Eisner Spirit Archive I. 16/2 As supporting cast, Eisner conjured up Police Commissioner Eustace P. Dolan—right out of central casting: a gruff, pipe-chomping, jut-jawed Irish cop.
B. adj. Hired or as if hired from Central Casting; stereotypical, generic.
1940Washington Post 23 June vi. 1/6 Made long-haired Indians out of Central Casting white men for ‘Northwest Mounted’. 1981P. Newman Canad. Establishment Volume Two: Acquisitors (1990) vi. 349 Winston's thirteen waiters look like Central Casting senators, though they're more likely to be superannuated Yugoslav accountants who recognize a good thing when they see it. 1998N.Y. Mag. 2 Feb. 53/1 Amis..makes Iron Mike a woman for novelty's sake, but otherwise she's a central-casting tough guy. 2006Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 8 Jan. [He] has a tough act to follow after Roberts, with his central-casting looks and charisma. |