Help Wanted: No Resume (or Clothes) Needed

Playboy attracting more “diverse” group of applicants these days.

Jeff Cohen better be careful of who his audience is when he throws around the word ‘older.’

That’s because when Cohen, vice president of special editions for Playboy Enterprises, says older, he means women over 29.

“We’re seeing a lot more diverse group come in for the casting calls. A lot more older women in their 30’s and 40’s. It used to be just 18 to 24 year-olds.”

Cohen is in the Bay Area, overseeing a two-day casting call at the Sheraton San Jose. By the time sessions began Wednesday morning, 260 women had already signed up (and paid $19.95) to be interviewed, videotaped, and photographed. (For an extra $30, they’ll get copies of the photographs).

While the dream, for most, is to be a Playboy centerfold, it’s a long shot. “There’s only room for 12 centerfolds a year,” Cohen says with a chuckle. The women here today who do find work will likely see themselves in any one of Playboy’s other magazines, on its website, or on it’s cable network.

Cohen believes he is seeing this more “diverse” group for a couple of reasons. First, he believes it has to do with the economy. People are reaching outside of their comfort zones in the search for work, some even becoming comfortable with the idea of posing naked.

Cohen also says more and more women in their 30’s, and above, are keeping their bodies in good shape. Good enough, he says, to make it into Playboy’s magazines. “I think they are seeing a lot more older women in Playboy, so they’re willing to give it a shot.”

Playboy's open casting call continues Thursday.

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