Soap Opera Digest: So, let's say you meet someone who can nail an audition. How do you know that they can survive the rigors of daytime?
Rob Decina: That's the key. Sometimes, we don't. At every level, we think we have someone who is going to be able to handle it, but that [is not the case]. For a contract role, they meet me, they meet the executive producer, they screen-test, they get it and then they have 40 pages a day three days a week for a month and you see they aren't up to it. That happens. A lot of time, it's a leap of faith. You look at their body of work, if they have any, which the ones right out of school don't. For me, I always like to watch their growth from the time they meet me to the time they screen-test. That period can last several weeks.

Digest: What have been some of your right calls?
Decina: I've been lucky here. Certainly, mistakes are made. But I have definitely had several cases where they said, "This is what we need," and they get it. Four years ago, Jordi Vilasuso [ex-Tony] walked in, and I said, "This is the guy." I was looking for this young, charming, good-looking Hispanic guy, and Jordi walked in with a smile on his face, and you go, "I hope he can act." He could, and [a few years later], he won an Emmy, and you go, "That was perfect." Another time, they came to me and said, "We want this preppy college guy with an evil look in his eye," and I go, "It's Matt Bomer." And Matt got the role [of Ben]. The reverse of that is, I had a role once that was similar — we wanted a male, blonde hair, blue-eyed, preppy guy who was a little clumsy, and Ricky Paull Goldin walked through the door. He was completely not physically what they were looking for, but he came in and was just so good and so personable and charming and so passionate about wanting the role, it made me as the casting director say, "Okay, I know we were looking for this, but look at what this guy brings to it." And Ricky ended up getting the role [of Gus]. It's rare that you meet people once, and they book a role that time. A lot times you see people over time. Aubrey Dollar auditioned for me probably four times and she was great every time, but it wasn't a fit. When the Marina role came up, it was like, "She would be perfect for that." And she got the role.

Digest: What is your relationship like with other casting directors?
Decina: It's actually becoming fun now [laughs]. We e-mail each other. Mary Clay Boland [of AS THE WORLD TURNS] is a very good friend of mine. There's actually not competition there; we support each other. I'm very friendly with Marnie Saitta at Y&R. She's great, too, because I'll go out to L.A. and she'll say, "What are you seeing?" and I'll say, "Well, I'm looking for a 25-year-old blonde girl." She'll go, "Hold on, I'll tell you who I saw." I'll do the same with her and Mary Clay. With the other networks, I know Judy Blye Wilson [of ALL MY CHILDREN] and Mark Teschner [of GENERAL HOSPITAL]. With them, there is a friendly competition. We all want to have the best actors on our show.

Digest: Tell us why you wrote your book, The Art of Auditioning: Techniques for Television.
Decina: I do a lot of teaching, and I am always asked to speak at schools and colleges and things. Through that, I realized that there was a lot of information to give out. I thought maybe it would be great to put all of this information in a book. My philosophy has always been that there are good actors and there are good auditioners, and one doesn't make the other one. Acting and auditioning are really two different things. You have to understand the craft, but also understand the audition skill and then combine them.

You can find Decina's book at most major bookstores and at amazon.com.