New entry on Ten Inch Hero blog: Saints, Demons, and Danneel.
From Saints, Demons, and Danneel:
Why did you hire Danneel Harris? Did you already know her?
Director David Mackay answers:
Danneel (Tish) came in and read three times, and she was consistently in the top 5.
It was always going to be a decision about the overall mix of the three lead women–one of whom, at that point, was going to be Clea DuVall (Jen). We were leaning toward casting Jensen Ackles (Priestly) early on, so we wanted to find a good match for him, too. That was a big part of the equation. We didn't know that he and Danneel were actually friends at all!
And I didn't know Danneel from before. She and I are represented at the same talent agency, so her agent had a little extra pull with me, however.
One day we had Jensen come in and read with three other possible Tish candidates–this is called a "mix and match" casting session. In fact it was as much an audition for Jensen, as it was a callback for the three actresses. Up to that point, we had only met with Jensen, he did not perform for us. Jensen did great–he blew us away in fact! But we kept searching for the right Tish.
Our only concern with Danneel was that she was on a CW show (One Tree Hill), and so was Jensen (Supernatural). We wanted to spread out our cast over TV and features. We didn't want a cast comprised entirely of leads on CW shows (or so we thought!).
As it turned out, we did eventually all agree that Danneel was the best for the role of Tish, after reading over 100 actresses!
And, then, AFTER we finished shooting, other members of the TEN INCH HERO cast suddenly began appearing on One Tree Hill! Elisabeth Harnois (Piper) was cast as well as Matt Barr (Brad). Moreover, Bethany Joy Galeotti has written and recorded several songs for our soundtrack!
So hopefully the fans of ONE TREE HILL will really be excited to see TEN INCH HERO!
Source: Ten Inch Hero Blog.