Robert J. Ulrich

Robert J. Ulrich is an American casting director and producer active since the 1980s and best known for casting television shows including Glee, The Boys, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, CSI, Diagnosis: Murder and Matlock. He has also cast most Ryan Murphy productions since Popular in 1999. He has been nominated for nine Emmy Awards, winning a Primetime Emmy Award for casting Glee. He has been nominated for the Artios Awards 22 times and won twice, for casting Glee and Nip/Tuck.

Career Robert J. Ulrich began his career as a stage actor, but realized he would not be successful. He moved into casting and says he learned more about acting his first time behind the table than in his previous career.

Known for casting musical television series, Ulrich told The Hollywood Reporter that "it's so much more fun when you're doing a musical, because people are singing and your day's suddenly better." He developed this musical casting process for the show Rhapsody, which did not get greenlit. Initially, he would have auditionees sing a cappella or with a backing track, but insisted on bringing a live pianist for the callbacks, saying in 2020 that "great singers are better with a piano and less trained singers are much better with a piano". He has also said that having live piano sets actors at ease. While working on the show he helped develop the reality series The Glee Project, which he described as an extension of the comedy-musical's casting process. In 2021, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Ulrich does not find musical casting challenging, as he has many connections with triple threat performers; for Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist he cast several actors he had seen for prior auditions, including Jane Levy, who had previously auditioned for him for The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again, and Michael Thomas Grant and Alex Newell who had been contestants on The Glee Project.

Personal life He is married to actress Kim Johnston Ulrich. The couple judged the annual "Valley's Got Talent" in Ulrich's hometown of Modesto, California, together.

Filmography

Film

Television All roles only casting unless noted.

Theatre

Awards and nominations In over 30 years in casting, Ulrich and his company Ulrich/Dawson/Kritzer Casting (UDK) have been nominated for over twenty Artios Awards and nine Emmy Awards. 1998

The Gregory Hines Show

2000 Popular

Dramatic Pilot Casting

Dramatic Episodic Casting

Outstanding Achievement in Dramatic Episodic Casting

Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series

2006

Wildfire

2007 Kyle XY

2008 Outstanding Achievement in Drama Pilot Casting Saving Grace

2009 Outstanding Achievement in Comedy Pilot Casting

Media Access Award

Television Series – Comedy Casting

Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards

Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards

Television Series – Comedy Casting

Mini-Series Casting

Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special

Artios Awards Mini-Series Casting

Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards

2014 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards

Artios Awards Mini-Series Casting

Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special

2016 Artios Awards Mini-Series Casting

2017 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special

Limited Series Casting

Film – Non-theatrical Release Casting The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

Hoyt Bowers Award Contribution to casting

Micro-Budget Feature Casting – Comedy or Drama Billy Boy

Television Pilot and First Season – Comedy Casting Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist

Television Pilot and First Season – Drama Casting The Boys 2023 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story