Former Disney cast members reflect on their time at Disney and the stress of maintaining their roles
College students looking for a career change look no further, Disney college is always looking for characters. Although, becoming a character at Disney is not as easy as it seems.
Disney holds auditions for characters year-round but the selective process is intense and the hope for getting to play your dream character is low. Those dreaming of being a face character specifically have to meet very strict requirements from face shape, height and character resemblance.
Disney wants all characters to look identical when in costume to ensure “the magic stays alive.”
In an interview with Buzzfeed, Katie McBroom discusses what it’s like to play a character and the process of how she got her roles. Katie said the auditions are like open calls, everyone comes and is sorted into roles that would work best based on their skill and characteristics.
“It was just kind of an open call, come-in-your-dance-clothes kind of situation,” McBroom told Buzzfeed. “Everyone is essentially placed in a bucket, based on their height.”
For example, Katie, who typically filled the role of Snow White or Princess Leia, also occasionally took on the role of Captain Hook’s sidekick Mr. Smee. Roles like Tinkerbell or the costume characters of Chip and Dale were given to more petite actors.
McBrooms training started with being fitted into her princess roles. Disney is known for mandating strict rules for dress and makeup while representing the character, requiring every actor to do identical makeup.
“Most of the princesses are supposed to be, like, 15 years-old, so the makeup looks are generally very clean beauty makeup versus an Instagram face,” McBroom told Buzzfeed. “There wasn’t a strict rule on contouring for my characters; it was more about the shape of the blush and the type of lip line.”
“Unfortunately, it felt like the role of my dreams could be snatched away as quickly as it was given at any moment if I became ‘disapproved’ in my character,” Melanie said.
McBroom told Buzzfeed that characters with accents also were required to take dialect training but even the characters with American accents were taught to change their voices so every actor sounds the same.
“For most girls, the character is higher than their actual voice,” an anonymous source told Buzzfeed. “Actually it’s so high that some girls will go on vocal rest because it strains their vocal chords — especially when they first start out.”
Former Disney cast member Melanie, wrote an article for Insider describing her consistent fear of not fitting the look of her character and being fired. Melanie did not use her last name in her article for privacy reasons.
“Unfortunately, it felt like the role of my dreams could be snatched away as quickly as it was given at any moment if I became ‘disapproved’ in my character,” Melanie said.
Whether it would be aging out or changes in appearances, Melanie said she was always concerned about maintaining the Disney character rules. Specifically Melanie talked about weight changes being an issue for actors keeping their roles.
Melanie said that between fighting for roles and hours along with ensuring she fit the “look” of her characters, it was a stressful job. She found it difficult to move from a part-time position and eventually left the park.
“There wasn’t a single day that I didn’t want to do my job — I loved the guests and playing my characters,” Melanie said. “But the reality was that Disney magic didn’t pay my bills, and I knew it was time to move on when I realized my job didn’t love me back.”
Becoming a Disney character is not as easy as it seems. Those who go to the park see effortlessly consistent characters but behind the scenes are hundreds of actors working to perfect the desired Disney character look.