from central casting

from central casting

English

Etymology

From Central Casting, an American company that specializes in casting extras, body doubles, and stand-ins.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Prepositional phrase

from central casting

1. (idiomatic) Conforming to the stereotypical image of a particular type of person or group.
   • 2002, Fay Vincent, The Last Commissioner: A Baseball Valentine, Simon & Schuster (2002), →ISBN, page 70:

     He was not the pompous university president from central casting, always pontificating; he was more like a charming professor who walked around his campus wearing the navy blue cap of his beloved Boston Red Sox and who just happened to be university president.

   • 2009, John Lloyd & John Mitchinson, The Book of the Dead: Lives of the Justly Famous and the Undeservedly Obscure, Crown Publishers (2009), →ISBN, unnumbered page:

     Luckily for Giacomo, he had Marzia, an Italian grandmother straight from central casting.

   • 2014 April 1, Roger Cohen, “The case for Scotland”, in International New York Times, page 9:

     The fact that David Cameron, the conservative prime minister, is a plummy-voiced, Eton-educated, upper-class Brit from central casting has played into [Alex] Salmond's hands.

Synonyms

• out of central casting