Acting role Supporting

TIFFANY HALL

Melanated Christmas · Film

Casting requirements

Age range 20–35

Gender Female

Openings 1 slot

About the role

Mia’s funny, honest, emotionally perceptive best friend/cousin/assistant who knows her too well to be impressed by appearances.

Occupation: assistant
Core traits: funny, honest, emotionally perceptive, practical, loyal
What they want: Help Mia pull off the Ball successfully.
Inner need: To balance loyalty with direct truth instead of only smoothing things over.
Main conflict: Help Mia pull off the Ball while problems keep stacking up.
Arc: flat/supporting
Voice: casual, direct, warm, lightly teasing
Performance range: comedic, warm, emotionally perceptive, grounded
Required abilities: sharp banter, natural chemistry with female lead, sincere truth-telling
Preferred abilities: improv instincts, holiday rom-com tone
Physical performance: light business, expressive reactions
Accent: standard American
Language: English
Comparable performances: best-friend truth-teller in a warm holiday romance
Audition sides: scene advising Mia, scene teasing Mia about romance, scene helping during Ball stress
Casting notes: Needs effortless familiarity with Mia and zero intimidation by polished appearances

📋 View character outline

The character breakdown from the writers, so you know who you'd be playing.

Audition sides

🎥 Self-tape required to apply Scene 10 · Melanated ChristmasYour lines are highlighted

Scene 10 INT. MIA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Mia's apartment is still neat, but the calm has been overtaken by possibility. Old Ball programs, a venue layout, vendor notes, and a legal pad now cover the dining table in clean, anxious stacks. Mia stands at the table in stocking feet, blazer off, rereading her own notes like they might argue back. A small overnight bag sits by the chair, unopened. Tiffany lets herself in with takeout and one look at the table tells her everything.

TIFFANY HALL

Oh, this is bad.

MIA BROOKS

(without looking up)

That's encouraging.

Tiffany sets the takeout on the counter and walks closer, taking in the paperwork, the old Ball program opened flat, the timeline already started.

TIFFANY HALL

No, I mean bad like you already done alphabetized the pressure.

MIA BROOKS

I said yes.

Tiffany freezes for half a beat -- then lights up.

TIFFANY HALL

Shut up.

MIA BROOKS

(finally looking up)

That is not a supportive response.

TIFFANY HALL

No, friend, that is a stunned response. You said yes?

MIA BROOKS

I told her on the spot. I accepted the Ball.

Tiffany breaks into a grin and closes the distance fast, pulling Mia into a hug before Mia can brace for it.

TIFFANY HALL

Mia.

TIFFANY HALL

(pulling back)

That's huge.

MIA BROOKS

(quietly)

I know.

TIFFANY HALL

No, I don't think you do. This is the Ball-ball. The Melanated Christmas Ball. The one aunties still compare to years nobody even remembers clearly.

MIA BROOKS

Thank you for making that worse.

TIFFANY HALL

You're welcome.

Tiffany opens the takeout, pushing a container toward Mia. Mia does not touch it.

TIFFANY HALL

Eat something while you spiral. I want you nourished if you're going to crash out.

MIA BROOKS

I am not crash out.

TIFFANY HALL

(a look)

There are four stacks labeled by emotional damage.

Mia glances at the legal pad. TIMELINE. BUDGET. RISK. QUESTIONS.

MIA BROOKS

Six weeks. The budget is still moving. Entertainment is not confirmed. Committee structure feels... layered.

TIFFANY HALL

Mm-hmm. There she is.

MIA BROOKS

Ms. Evelyn was very clear this is not just another December event.

TIFFANY HALL

It shouldn't be.

MIA BROOKS

(sitting now)

That's the part I can't shake.

MIA BROOKS

I've done elegant. I've done meaningful. I've even done high-pressure with people who confuse opinion for authority.

MIA BROOKS

(beat)

But this feels different.

TIFFANY HALL

Because it is different.

Tiffany sits across from her, all humor softened now.

TIFFANY HALL

This one matters to you.

MIA BROOKS

(honest)

It does.

MIA BROOKS

That room has history in it. You can feel it.

MIA BROOKS

Ms. Evelyn showed me photos from past years and all I could think was -- if I do this wrong, people will know immediately.

TIFFANY HALL

If you do it right, they'll know that too.

MIA BROOKS

I need it to be excellent.

TIFFANY HALL

It will be.

MIA BROOKS

(low)

It has to be.

Tiffany clocks the shift immediately -- ambition turning into pressure, pressure turning into self-threat.

TIFFANY HALL

See, that's the sentence I don't like.

MIA BROOKS

Which one?

TIFFANY HALL

It has to be." That's your cue to stop being excited and start acting like if one candle leans wrong, God Himself will revoke your business license.

MIA BROOKS

I am trying to be realistic.

TIFFANY HALL

(gently)

Be realistic, then. You're talented. You're prepared. And you did not get this because Ms. Evelyn got confused on the phone.

MIA BROOKS

I know why I got it.

TIFFANY HALL

Then act like it.

Mia leans back, exhales, finally letting herself feel the size of it instead of just organizing it.

MIA BROOKS

I think this could change my whole business.

TIFFANY HALL

Yes.

MIA BROOKS

I think if I pull this off, people stop seeing me as the planner who's good. I become the planner they call first.

TIFFANY HALL

Also yes.

MIA BROOKS

(smaller)

And I think that scares me a little.

Record yourself, upload it to YouTube (unlisted is fine), Google Drive, Vimeo or Dropbox, and paste the link with your application. Make sure the link can be viewed by anyone who has it.

Skills required

sharp banter
natural chemistry with female lead
sincere truth-telling
improv instincts
holiday rom-com tone
comedic timing
grounded emotional support

About the project

Mia Brooks is a gifted, tightly controlled event planner who creates warmth and elegance for everyone but herself. As Christmas lights and community traditions fill the Eastside, Mia’s own apartment remains bare, reflecting how emotionally closed off she has become. In client meetings she is sharp, funny, and impeccably professional, but she shuts down even harmless flirtation and keeps real connection at arm’s length. At her office, her loyal friend Tiffany Hall notices the cracks beneath Mia’s polish, especially when Mia reacts to a call from Kevin Rush, a man who seems to represent an old pattern of disappointment and inconsistency. Tiffany also shares a rumor that the Eastside’s prestigious Melanated Christmas Ball may need a new planner. Though Mia is clearly intrigued, she doubts that talent alone is enough to gain entry into such a legacy event and worries she will never truly be trusted in those circles. Later, at her parents’ Christmas-filled home, Mia is surrounded by easy family love, ritual, and partnership. Watching her parents and her sister Nadia move through their relationships with comfort and familiarity forces Mia to confront what is missing in her own life. In a quiet kitchen conversation, she admits that despite her success, she expected to have built a fuller life by now, not just a flawless schedule. The excerpt ends with Mia exposed in her loneliness, setting up a story about ambition, belonging, and the possibility of love.