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New York

Casting call for brokers to play bit parts

Ryan Serhant
Ryan Serhant

On “Million Dollar Listing New York,” NestSeekers International broker Ryan Serhant portrays himself. But he recently sought to return to a familiar role — playing someone else.

Early last month, Serhant wrapped filming his part in “While We’re Young,” an indie comedy-drama written and directed by Noah Baumbach and starring Ben Stiller. He does not play a broker, but rather a hedge-funder. It’s his first narrative project since leaving “As the World Turns” in 2008. He said, however, that he could not provide details about his role.

“I’m a real estate agent first; I run my team and office second — and all this other stuff is marketing,” Serhant told The Real Deal.

Serhant is not the only broker who might be showing a property and appearing on a show at the same time.

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Halstead Property broker Haviland Morris worked steadily as an actress for 25 years before acquiring her license. She specializes in co-op resales, some at Lincoln Towers on the Upper West Side. Out of college, she was cast in “Sixteen Candles,” and most recently guest-starred on “The Good Wife.”

Morris played the on-screen mother to future A-list stars Scarlett Johansson and Claire Danes in “Home Alone 3,” and played a role in an unaired Dudley Moore sitcom pilot.

“Some of us are wired for high drama,” said Morris, who also founded design firm Existential Nest. “In real estate, you’re encountering people at their most vulnerable.”

Robert Burton, an executive vice president at Massey Knakal Realty Services, also had a brush with fame. He costarred with his then-wife, the late Karen Black, in the hit 1975 made-for-TV horror flick “Trilogy of Terror.”

Bradley White, a former Halstead broker, has been picking up bit parts for years. But about two years ago, White left the brokerage for California, and has continued pursuing acting roles, a Halstead spokesperson said. He has had guest spots on “Law & Order,” “The West Wing” and, most recently, “Private Practice,” as well as the short-lived TNT hospital drama “Monday Mornings.”