Basic Trope: A character wants to get a part in a TV show/movie/play and must have sex with a producer or casting director to do so.
- Straight: Alice is auditioning for the lead role in a play, and is told she must have sex with the director, Bob.
- Exaggerated:
- If she refuses, not only will she not get the part, she will be blacklisted and basically unable to pursue her acting career.
- In order to get in the play, Alice has to sleep with the entire cast and crew.
- Downplayed:
- Bob asks only that Alice be nude throughout her audition before he casts her.
- Alice gets the part first, but Bob harasses her.
- Justified: Alice is auditioning for a role in the adult entertainment industry.
- Inverted:
- Bob must have sex with Alice if he wants her to be part of the cast.
- If Alice sleeps with Bob, she will not get the role she wants (i.e., a Secret Test of Character).
- Taking it a step further, Alice makes one too many unwanted advances towards Bob, and is told that if she doesn't knock it off, they'll kick her off the project.
- Alice will get to have sex with Bob if she gets cast.
- Alice is fed up with the movie, so she has sex with Bob in exchange for him letting her vamoose.
- Subverted:
- Alice refuses to have sex with Bob.
- Bob does make a pass at Alice, but he still gives her the part when she refuses.
- Double Subverted: Because of her refusal, Alice is cast as an extra instead of the lead, or cut from the cast entirely.
- Parodied:
- All the female characters form a harem for Bob.
- Every place Alice looks for acting work has this as a stipulation.
- Alice gets the part by instead convincing Bob that his success and fame could draw the attention of women who would willingly have sex with him without having to ask them.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob makes some of the actresses (and some of the actors) sleep with him, but not the better actors or those with whom he has pre-existing relationships.
- Averted: Sexual favors of any kind do not factor into Alice getting the role.
- Enforced: "We need to show the viewers the evils of Hollywood!"
- Lampshaded: "If you want this role, you must do one thing: sleep with me, right here and now."
- Invoked: Bob gets a Raging Stiffie for Alice and tells her she'll get the role she wants, in order to make her more willing to sleep with him.
- Exploited:
- Bob takes advantage of Alice's wilfulness, and begins to abuse her.
- Alice, who has herpes, obliges.
- Defied:
- Bob feels this is wrong and doesn't do this.
- Bill, the producer, learns that Bob wants to do this and fires him.
- Alice refuses and goes looking for acting work elsewhere.
- Discussed: "So, I heard Alice slept with Bob to get the role..."
- Conversed: "Ugh, disgusting. Whatever happened to casting people based on their acting talent, rather than their talent in bed?"
- Deconstructed: Because this involves Sexual Extortion (i.e., blackmailing someone into sex), this technically counts as rape.
- Reconstructed: Alice goes to find work elsewhere. It may not be easy, but she won't be reduced to what's basically a whitewashed prostitute for it.
- Played for Laughs: Alice is very Hollywood Homely.
- Played for Drama:
- Alice must choose between her dignity and her career.
- Bob is murdered shortly after and Alice becomes a prime suspect when her fling with Bob is discovered.
- Played for Horror: Bob threatens even harsher punishments to Alice while they sleep together.
- Implied: Alice gets the part after an unspecified ordeal that leaves her very bedraggled.
Sleep with the link to get to Casting Couch.
