Becki Newton did not expect to get the role of receptionist Amanda Tanen, after she attended two unsuccessful pilot auditions on the same day. Of her casting, Horta said "We were trying to find a girl that is gorgeous and funny, and that's a lot tougher than you think. It's really rare. And Becki came in and she was beautiful and she just nailed it." Michael Urie knew that his role of Wilhelmina's assistant Marc St. James was a one episode appearance, as an original story idea had Wilhelmina firing her assistants each week. Urie explained that he only had a few scenes in the pilot, but Williams made sure he stood close to her, so they could perform some funny moments together and then she would "bark" the character's name, so his scenes were not cut. Urie became a series regular when Horta noticed that he had good comic timing.