Actress Amanda Righetti believes Hollywood is still living with the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic – and not just financially.
The “Mentalist” star, who portrayed Ronald Reagan’s mother, Nelle, in the hit film “Reagan” – being re-released to theaters on Sept. 25 in a special expanded “Director’s Cut” featuring 10 minutes of new footage – says the biggest change in Hollywood Hohas been the disappearance of the personal connections that once defined the acting profession.
“I think the community has been fractured by the pandemic,” Righetti said during an interview on producer Mark Joseph’s podcast, “The Mark Joseph Show,” as part of the podcast’s “Making Reagan” series of interviews.
For actors, she says, one of the most significant shifts has been the near-total move from in-person auditions to self-taped submissions.
“Before the pandemic, self-tapes were not the norm,” Righetti said. “Everything was in the room.”
She remembers thriving on the energy that came from meeting casting directors and filmmakers face-to-face.
“I thrived on that – the ability to take direction and interact with the casting director, the director, the producers, the reader.”
Today, much of that interaction has disappeared.
Instead of walking into audition rooms, actors often find themselves turning their homes into miniature film studios.
“You’ve got to set up the lights, have the background, have a reader, make sure the house is quiet enough to get something on tape,” she said. “And if you can’t, then you’re booking a studio space.”
The process, she says, has become far more isolating.
“You don’t get immediate feedback like you used to.”
Perhaps the most frustrating part, Righetti added, is that actors often don’t even know whether anyone has watched the work they’ve submitted.
“It’s just so difficult to know if your tapes are even being seen.”
That uncertainty, she says, has fundamentally changed the emotional experience of pursuing work.
“It feels like you’re kind of in a vacuum now.”
Righetti experienced another side of the pandemic while filming “Reagan,” which was forced to navigate repeated COVID protocols during production.
Looking back, she remembers one surreal moment at the film’s premiere when she suddenly realized she didn’t recognize members of the crew.
“We’d worked together with masks on the whole time,” she said. “To see people without a mask, it was like, ‘Oh … that’s what you look like.'”
She believes those years altered the way people relate to one another.
“When you take away half of someone’s face with a mask, it’s really hard to read emotion,” she said. “There was a strange disconnect.”
Even so, Righetti remains optimistic about where the entertainment industry is heading.
After “Reagan,” she joined the cast of “Scarpetta,” where she plays the younger version of a character portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis.
The role, she says, reminded her of why she still loves acting despite the industry’s upheaval.
“I want to be telling really human stories,” she said. “Especially with the rise of AI, I still seek out that human connection.”
While acknowledging that streaming, artificial intelligence and changing business models have transformed Hollywood, Righetti believes audiences will always want authentic performances.
“People are always going to need to be entertained,” she said. “It’s just what that entertainment looks like now.”
For Righetti, that’s ultimately why she’s optimistic.
“There are aspects of the business that are changing in ways none of us have experienced before,” she said. “But there’s an opportunity to reach more people.”
And although the technology may continue to evolve, the need for genuine human stories, she believes, will not.
