Well, I'm not sure about this one. It depends a bit on what the film is, who is casting it, what your experience is like. It would be different if you knew that there was a part in it that you knew you were perfect for. In my opinion, just saying "I would love to be involved in X" is a bit pointless. What leads you to think that you would "suit" it? Do you have specialist skills that you think are going to be needed? Most actors would love to be involved in everything! Agents know that.
I suppose you could ask your agent to keep an eye out for who is casting it (they will be doing this anyway) and you could send in your details and express your interest in the project. Your agent may agree to do this but I think they are more likely not to agree. If every agent in the land approached a CD every time an actor expressed an interest in the project, then the CD would be inundated with inappropriate, untargeted submissions - which is likely to be very annoying and a waste of time for the CD. One thing your agent doesn't want to do (for your sake as well as their own) is annoy the casting director. I know, from direct conversations, that some agents have now ruined their own reputations by making inappropriate submissions and will be ignored by CDs in future -
especially for anything high profile.
If it's an independent or low budget film then that's fine (and in that case I would suggest a direct approach as well) but if it's a big project then it is unlikely that your agent is going to be approaching the casting director
unless there's a part you are perfect for - and if they
do find out that there is a part you are perfect for, then they will submit you if they think your experience is good enough. Most big budget films are cast by the CD approaching the agents who represent the actors they want to see. They already know who they want on their shortlist. Some of the top agents are also able to negotiate with the CD to get other clients seen (or even cast) by saying "you can have this A list client if you also consider my other clients" but that will only be if they are suitable.
I would suggest trying to find a time when your agent isn't too busy to have a chat about how to approach this kind of thing. I think my agent would consider it a bit pointless for me to tell her I wanted to be involved in a high profile project if I didn't know whether there was a role I was suitable for. To be honest, I think she would think it a bit pointless whether the project was high profile or not. She would expect me to make my own contacts with any
companies I was particularly interested in working with. The exception to this would be something like the RSC or the National - if I expressed an ambition to work with a particular high profile
ensemble then she could (and does) work hard at getting my name/profile in front of a relevant casting director (and she would expect me to do the same) and make sure they were invited to any shows I was in. She would expect me to be doing my own general networking too.
The point I'm trying to make (in my usual long-winded way) is that this is a long game. You have to build up the contacts. You also have to be able to trust your agent, so having a general conversation about submissions, contacts and your career could pay dividends
.
