The first thing that casting director David Rubin does when he reads a screenplay is to forget the writer’s character descriptions. Instead, he’s on the lookout for an actor’s authenticity, as well as diversity. Rubin offers his Brief But Spectacular take on what he sees as the most illuminating auditions.

While many families may look like the archetype of mom and dad and kids, every family has something that makes them different, says author Rumaan Alam. The makeup of his family -- a brown man and a white man with two black boys -- requires that he and his husband practice what he calls "radical honesty" with his kids. Alam gives his Brief but Spectacular take on family.

Dr. BJ Miller does not work to heal patients, but to ensure quality of life amid advanced or serious illness. Sometimes people suggest his job is depressing, but Miller doesn’t see it that way. When people are dying it changes how they live, he says. Miller gives his Brief but Spectacular take on dying and living.

It’s hard to look someone in the eye and deny their humanity, says iO Tillett Wright. Now Wright has spent the past six years photographing people who identify across the LGBT spectrum. Wright offers a Brief but Spectacular take on finding beauty in difference.