DIRECTIONS UNIT: Casting

Casting is the most essential factor of a film. 

Finding the appropriate and suitable (to the role/character you've created) actors, is quite challenging, indeed when you have to do it for the first time. At first I didn't know from where to start, as when I was helping my uncle with his theatre productions (back in Greece), I was never the one responsible for casting actors. 

However, this time around it was my turn and so I wrote a paragraph about what I was looking for and a little bit about my film on a word document, and started searching for sites that I could potentially find actors/actresses. So, Casting Call Pro was one of the sites I came across and so I went for it and created an account to post what I was looking for. Once I did, I immediately got 7 applications from actresses that were very enthusiastic & loved the role of 'Viola', and wanted to audition. But I was worried about my male role. No one had applied yet. After a day or two I got another five applications for 'Viola's' role, and got two male applicants for 'Oliver's' role. So I got very excited cause at last after the horrible stories I had heard from my friends & classmates about casting actors from sites would be a nightmare, cause I had around 14 applications already. 

1st Email

2nd Email

3rd Email

After my excitement faded away a bit, I started planning out the times and dates the actors would audition for the roles, Viola and Oliver. Once I sent out the programme, seven of my actors backed out, said they couldn't do it and they had paid jobs instead to work for. I got a bit worried and annoyed but I relaxed once I got replies from the rest of them, that they were ok with auditioning at the times & dates given. After having given permission from Simon, our course leader, to use the base-rooom and/or board-room for the auditions and giving the exact location to the actors that would audition, another actor couldn't make it. And so, by the end of the night all of my actors couldn't make it to Maidstone. So I planned out a Skype call-interview/audition, for each one of them at certain times as an official "offer". And so, eventually they all accepted.
But that wasn't the end of my adventurous and notorious experience with auditioning & having professional actors for my roles. Once I auditioned all of them all, I accepted the two actors that, I personally, fell in love with (their acting of course)during their audition, as both of them understood exactly what I was going for, and related themselves to each of the role very easily. So Hayley Adams was my female actor that played the role of Viola and Tom Hendryk was my male actor that played the role of Oliver. 

Tom Hendryk

Hayley Adams

The day of the scheduled filming, my male actor sent me an email telling me he can't travel from London to the location given cause he wasn't getting paid. I again panicked at this point cause everything was set and ready for the shoot and I wouldn't have a male actor. So before I got the chance to reply, he sent me another email a few hours later, apologising and asking for my number to communicate and get instruction on where to go.
So overall, I had a blast when it came to filming with my actors as they were the kindest and most understanding people when filming, indeed when mini- problems occurred during the shoot (which I'll write about in another post.
Happy Valentine's Day to all!
And hope you enjoyed reading.
Yours,
I.