Rules for Fancasting

Here are some rules I've come up with while making my own fancasts for fun over the years, to me they make sense but everyone's different so one doesn't necessarily have to follow them. This is also for me to remember in the future as I could forget any time. Also, the rules regarding fancasts for live action shows/movies are similar but different compared to the ones for animated shows/movies, just FYI.

For live action movies and shows...

1. Make sure the actor/actress you pick is the same age as your character, they won't stay the same age of course but when you show your fancast to someone you can tell them 'he or she or they were that age when I picked them' and will give the person an idea of what you imagined your character would look like.
2. Make sure the actor/actress' ethnicity matches your character's also. If you didn't know the actor's ethnicity when you picked them until later, you can adjust the character's name and ethnicity so that they match.
3. In addition, you should also make sure the actor's citizenship is the same as where the story is set. Like if it was a Canadian series, the cast should mostly be Canadian, though exceptions can be made if you have no other choice.
4. If an actor or actress in your fancast has passed away or gone to jail it might be best to remove them out of respect, of course you can keep them on there if you want.
5. If an actor or actress hasn't been in a movie or a TV series in over five years you cannot add them.
6. In addition, if the actor or actress is retired you also cannot add them.
7. If you imagine your character as having an accent, make sure the actress or actor you pick for your fancast has one or can do one.
8. If your character is LGBT+, then the actor or actress playing them should be also.
9. If an actor or actress has mostly done movies or a mini series then they can't be part of a fancast for a TV series and vice versa.
10. A minor but important rule is possibly checking the actor or actresses net worth, make sure it's low, anyone that's really famous like Morgan Freeman or Chris Pratt would be too expensive. Now this doesn't mean you'll actually have to pay them since this is a fancast but if by some miracle you could actually make your fancast come true, you should make sure they're within whatever budget you got. It should mainly be anybody under 10 million dollars.
11. When choosing between two or more actors, try to pick the one whose stuff you've seen the most of.

For animated shows and movies...

1. Make sure the actor or actress voicing them has the same ethnicity, as in no African actors/actresses voicing white characters and such. Persons of color should play characters of color. Casting a mixed race character with a white actress undermines the specificity of the mixed race & Black American experience. At least that's what others say.
2. Just like in live action shows, the voice actor/actress' orientation should match their characters.
3. If it's a Canadian series then the voice fancast should be mostly Canadian, with some exceptions. If it's an American, it doesn't necessarily have to be an all American fancast, it can even be an Canadian/American series if you imagine it that way.
4. The voice actor or voice actresses doesn't necessarily have to a common one like Kevin Conroy or Yuri Lowenthal
5. If they don't have a page on 'Behind the Voice Actors' then they aren't a voice actor.
6. If an actor or actress in your fancast has passed away or gone to jail it might be best to remove them out of respect, of course you can keep them on there if you want.
7. If a voice actor or actress hasn't worked and/or voiced a character in over five years you cannot add them.
8. In addition, if the voice actor or actress is retired you also cannot add them.
9. If you imagine your character as having an accent, make sure the voice actress or actor you pick for your fancast has one or can do one.
10. If an actor or actress has had mostly voice over roles in movies or a mini series then they can't be part of a fancast for a TV series and vice versa.
11. And while I know it's been done before and has worked very well, you shouldn't pick a woman to voice a little boy like how Tara Strong voices Timmy Turner among others, the gender of the voice actor should match the character's also. Make sure a child is voicing a child, sure they won't have a kid-like voice anymore when puberty kicks in, but it is still a fancast and it would give whoever's looking at it and idea of what you imagine your character would sound like, like you can say 'They sounded like this when I picked them'.
12. As for ages, the voice actor should be close to the character's age but not exactly. I believe it's a bit weird for someone to voice another person's mother when they're very close in age.
13. When choosing between two or more actors, try to pick the one whose stuff you've seen the most of.

14. This one is somewhat optional but these are the age groups one should look for when choosing a voice for fancast, like if a character is a certain age then the voice actor should be someone born in this decade:

    • 2000s = 1-12
    • 90s = 13-19
    • 80s = 20-29
    • 70s = 30-39
    • 60s = 40-49
    • 50s = 50-59
    • 40s = 60-69
    • 30s = 70-79
    • 20s = 80-89
    • 10s = 90-99

    Of course this can be adjusted depending on the circumstances