&gt; &quot;Do I think this person is a cool person?&quot; No movie director would hire an actor on that basis.<p>Well, considering the amount of work Mel Gibson gets these days (more or less zero), this does factor in a bit. I also gather that studios hire actors for reasons beyond their acting skill quite often. Consider also how many actresses fall off the face of the earth when they hit a certain age. Where&#x27;s Mira Sorvino? Halle Berry? Jennifer Garner? Jessica Alba? Did they suddenly forget how to audition?<p>Considering all the TV shows where the actors are cast by the 8x10 glossies, it might even be the default to undervalue auditions.