How to Audition for HBO Max

How HBO Max castings work

HBO Max chooses and finances projects and produces them together with independent production companies in each country. Official press releases show this well: the credits of Mataviejitas, the platform’s new Mexican series, list producers from EXILE Content alongside Warner Bros. Discovery executives and a casting director of the project’s own, Mercedes Gironella. Amazon Prime Video works with the same scheme, as we explain in how to audition for Prime Video.

The usual circuit is this:

• The platform approves the series and supervises it with its content executives.
• The production company hires the director, the writers, the technical crew and the casting director.
• The casting director builds lists of actors, asks representatives and the casting database for materials and, sometimes, opens public calls for small speaking roles, minor parts or background actors.
• Lead roles are usually decided among the director, the production company and the platform.

There is a second path worth knowing: part of the Latin American catalog arrives from other screens. Viudas negras, Malena Pichot’s black comedy, is a co-production of TNT and Flow that premiered its first episode on TNT and on HBO Max. In those cases the casting depends on the production company that made the series, wherever it ends up airing. It is the same local production company scheme that Netflix uses, as we explain in our guide on how to audition for Netflix.

How HBO Max casts in the United States

In the United States, the cast of each series is also built by the casting director the production hires. According to the Breakdown Services FAQ, casting directors and filmmakers send in their project information, and the casting director decides whether a breakdown (the description of each role) goes to talent agents and managers on Breakdown Express, to actors on Actors Access, or to both. So a talent agent or manager who can submit you matters, and a current Actors Access profile helps you see the roles released to actors. We explain both in our guide to casting websites for actors.

Be wary of anyone who charges a fee to get you cast on HBO Max: the U.S. Federal Trade Commission warns that paying to get a job is always a sign of a scam.

What HBO Max produces in Spanish

At its Upfront in November 2025, the platform presented its 2026 lineup with fiction, documentaries and animation from Latin America, according to The Hollywood Reporter en Español. The Spanish-language projects for 2026 include:

• Colisión, the platform’s first original Mexican telenovela.
• The third season of Margarita, the youth series created by Cris Morena, announced for August 24, 2026.
• Cautiva, an Argentine series from TNT and Flow.
• Mataviejitas, the Mexican thriller that began shooting in 2026.
• Furia Parte 2, the continuation of Félix Sabroso’s Spanish series, announced for October 2026.

Tip: the HBO Max Latin America press room publishes shoot starts with the full credits. That is where the production company and, sometimes, the casting director appear, as happened with Mataviejitas.

The materials you need ready

Casting calls for series usually close fast. Have these four pieces ready before yours shows up:

• Acting resume: a single page with your details, training, experience and skills you can demonstrate, such as languages, accents, singing or sports.
• Headshots: recent, natural photos with a close-up, a mid-shot and a full-body shot, without filters or heavy retouching.
• Reel: between one and two minutes with your best scenes. If you are short on filmed work, record your own scenes with good light and good sound.
• Self-tape: many first auditions are recorded. Watch the framing, the plain background and the audio, and follow the format and file name instructions to the letter. If you have never recorded one, start with what a self-tape is.

How to get on the radar of HBO Max productions

Join the agencies and casting databases in your country

Casting directors call first the people they already have in their database. Register with the casting agencies in your city (the serious ones do not charge for it) and, once you have experience, look for representation: many roles are cast in closed castings, by invitation. The difference is explained in our note on open and closed castings, and the Latin America casting directory lists agencies and contacts by country.

Follow the production companies and the people who cast

Follow the production companies that have already worked with HBO Max (below you have the verified ones by country) and their casting directors. When you finish an episode of a series on the platform, watch the end credits and note who signed the casting. That list of your own, built with real names, is worth more than any rumor of a casting call. The same method works for Disney+ series, as we explain in how to audition for Disney.

Look for signed casting calls

Try searches like “HBO Max series casting Mexico 2026” or “HBO Max casting call actors Argentina 2026” (and the Spanish versions, such as “casting serie HBO Max México 2026”), and check Google’s images tab too, where social media posts show up. Look at the date, because many notices that circulate are for productions that already wrapped, and stick with the ones that say which production company or casting director publishes them.

Build experience in front of the camera

Short films, commercials, theater and on-camera workshops give you craft and new scenes for your reel. For recurring characters, proven experience is usually a requirement.

How to spot fake notices that use the HBO name

A name this famous is easy bait for scams. Be suspicious if:

• they contact you by WhatsApp or direct message from an unknown number or account that says it is “from HBO” or “from the HBO Max casting”;
• they ask for money to register, to reserve a slot, to take photos with a photographer of their choosing or to pay for a mandatory course;
• the notice promises a role in a series on the platform but forgets to name the production company and the casting director;
• they pressure you with deadlines of minutes or ask for bank details, verification codes or intimate photos;
• the account that posts is new, has few posts or copies logos without any verifiable information.

Before sending anything, look up the production company and the casting director on your own and check whether the project appears in the platform’s press room or in specialized media. A serious casting director never charges you to audition, and in the United States the Federal Trade Commission says paying to get a job is always a sign of a scam. You will find more signs in our note on how to spot a fake casting call.

HBO Max production companies and casting by country

These production companies have already made series for HBO Max or for its catalog, according to official press releases, national media and trade press.

Mexico

• EXILE Content: produces Mataviejitas, directed by Humberto Hinojosa with co-direction by J.M. Cravioto. According to the official release, the casting director is Mercedes Gironella.
• Ventanarosa Productions and Endemol Shine Boomdog: produced Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) together with Endemol Shine North America, with Salma Hayek Pinault among the executive producers. Its final season premiered on February 15, 2026.

Argentina

• Cris Morena Group: produces Margarita together with the platform. The series premiered on September 2, 2024, Cris Morena chose Uruguay to shoot it and the youth cast of the premiere came from Otro Mundo (OM), her learning space.
• Pampa Films: developed Viudas negras, the TNT and Flow co-production that is also on HBO Max. Its official site already lists the second season.

Careful about drawing conclusions from the Margarita case: a serious production company will never guarantee you a role in exchange for paying for a course.

Colombia

• Rhayuela Films: co-produced Mil colmillos with WarnerMedia Latin America, the platform’s first original series made in Colombia, released in October 2021 and directed by Jaime Osorio and Pablo González.
• Quinto Color: co-produced La vorágine with the Colombian public TV (TV Pública Colombiana), an eight-episode adaptation that HBO Max launched in 2025.

To keep up with new projects in Colombia, follow the platform’s press room and the local production companies, and check the credits of each premiere.

Spain

• Producciones Mandarina: produces Furia, Félix Sabroso’s series for HBO Max in Spain.
• Distinto Films: produced Pubertat, created, directed and starring Leticia Dolera, together with Corte y Confección de Películas, Uri Films and 3Cat.
• Pokeepsie Films: the production company of Álex de la Iglesia and Carolina Bang made 30 monedas (30 Coins), whose second season premiered on HBO Max. Its website has a resume form meant for technical positions: acting materials go through the casting director of each project.

Frequently asked questions

Does HBO Max hold direct castings?

Almost never. The platform approves, finances and supervises the series, but the cast is chosen by the casting director that the production company of each project hires, such as Mercedes Gironella on Mataviejitas.

Is Max the same as HBO Max?

Yes. In Latin America the platform was called Max between February 2024 and July 2025, and in the United States from May 2023 to July 2025; after that it recovered the HBO Max name, which is the one it uses today.

Where are HBO Max castings posted?

On the social media of the production companies, casting directors and agencies in each country. Important roles are usually settled in closed castings, so being in agency databases and having representation opens more doors. To get into those databases, have your materials for submitting to a casting ready. In the United States, breakdowns are released through Breakdown Services to agents and managers and, depending on the casting director, to actors on Actors Access.

How does HBO Max cast in the United States?

The cast of each series is built by the casting director the production hires, who decides whether a role is released to talent agents and managers, to actors on Actors Access, or to both. A talent agent who can submit you and a current Actors Access profile both help, and the Federal Trade Commission warns that paying to get a job is always a sign of a scam.

How do I know if an HBO casting is fake?

Be suspicious if they contact you on WhatsApp from an unknown number, if the notice leaves out the production company and the casting director, or if they ask for money for registering, photos or a course. Verify the names on your own before sending any information.

Which Spanish-language series does HBO Max produce?

Among the most recent are Como agua para chocolate and Mataviejitas in Mexico, Margarita in Argentina, and Furia and Pubertat in Spain. In Colombia, its first original series was Mil colmillos, in 2021.