Award-winning casting director and alumna Tiffany Little Canfield to speak at UNCSA commencement on May 16

An alumna of the School of Drama at UNCSA, the eight-time Emmy-nominated Little Canfield has cast some of the most recognizable films and series today, including “Wicked: For Good” and “Wicked, Part One,” with Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Jonathan Bailey (and costumes by Oscar-winning UNCSA alum Paul Tazewell); "Paradise" with Sterling K. Brown and alumna Krys Marshall; “Only Murders in the Building,” with Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez; “And Just Like That,” with Sarah Jessica Parker; “This is Us,” with Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia and Sterling K. Brown; and “The Greatest Showman,” with Hugh Jackman.

Photo: Tiffany Little Canfield

Little Canfield will address undergraduate and graduate students at the University Commencement at 10 a.m. and graduating high school students at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at Benton Convention Center in downtown Winston-Salem.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Tiffany Little Canfield back to her alma mater to speak to our Class of 2026,” said Chancellor Brian Cole, who will preside over the ceremonies. “Tiffany is a perfect example of an artist who has used her training at UNCSA to chart her own creative path, which has resulted in a remarkable career that has propelled her to leadership in the industry in a relatively short period of time.

“Through her visionary work in casting, she has helped bring unforgettable characters and stories to life, shaping the cultural landscape in profound ways,” Chancellor Cole concluded. “I would not be surprised to see Tiffany nominated for one of the new Oscars for casting in the very near future.”

Like many alumni, Little Canfield considers her time at UNCSA transformative. “My four years at UNCSA were the most critical in my life,” she said. “While I’d always done well in school, it was the first time I felt treated like a professional who had a place in the industry.

“I’m honored to be selected as the commencement speaker for UNCSA in its 60th anniversary year and look forward to passing along some hopefully helpful advice to the graduates. After all, I’ve been in their shoes!”

More about Tiffany Little Canfield

A native of Sacramento, Tiffany Little Canfield fell in love with acting at a young age and pursued it through high school. More interested in affecting the finished project than just one part, she applied for UNCSA’s Directing Program in the School of Drama and received her B.F.A. in 2000.

She moved to New York looking for an internship to learn about the theater world but was hired to work with a casting director at Bernard Telsey’s (founder of The Telsey Office) office working on Baz Luhrmann’s production of Puccini’s “La bohème” on Broadway. When the casting director joined the directing team, Little Canfield took over casting and ended up casting the Broadway and Los Angeles companies. (An opera lover, she later cast “Anna Nicole the Opera” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.) She was hooked.

When “La bohème” wrapped up, Little Canfield and Telsey began to work together on plays, musicals, film and television. She relocated to the West Coast to open The Telsey Office’s Los Angeles branch in 2015.

In addition to those productions listed above, her team’s recent projects include “The Idea of You” with Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine; “Monster: The Eric and Lyle Menendez Story,” with Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez; “The Beauty,” with Evan Peters and Anthony Ramos; “The Intern,” with Robert DeNiro and Anne Hathaway; and “In the Heights,” with Anthony Ramos and Corey Hawkins.

Little Canfield’s upcoming projects include “Moana,” with Catherine Laga’aia and Dwayne Johnson, in theaters July 10; and “Verity,” starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, anticipated this October.

Little Canfield has been honored with eight Emmy nominations for her television work, and a total of eight wins and 55 nominations from the Critics Choice Awards, the Artios Awards (from the Casting Society of America), the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the Black Reel Awards, and others. She received the Casting Society of America Media Access Award for promoting awareness, accessibility and accurate depictions of people with disabilities. She and Bernard Telsey also won the Robert Altman Spirit Award for their work on the film “Margin Call,” with Zachary Quinto and Stanley Tucci.

Contact Media Relations(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)

Get the best news, performance and alumni stories from UNCSA.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTERS(OPENS IN NEW TAB)(OPENS IN NEW TAB)(OPENS IN NEW TAB)(OPENS IN NEW TAB)(OPENS IN NEW TAB)(OPENS IN NEW TAB)(OPENS IN NEW TAB)(OPENS IN NEW TAB)