Yesterday, on January 29, we had our first casting session for Huxley Park. We had a really good turnout; about thirty-eight people showed up to audition. David Graves, one of the two cinematographers on the shoot, set up a camera to record everyone’s audition. Director Matt Bobbitt and I took notes on the actors. We rated them on their acting ability, how well they fit the character, and overall image. Andrew Hreha, our other cinematographer, kept everything on track and running smoothly. Robert Deltour, editor and visual effects supervisor, was also present.
We were casting for the four roles in the film:
Shelley, the wife
Marianne, the mistress
Chester, the cheating husband
Police Officer, the arresting officer
We had our first actor audition around 9:45am, and then a pretty solid stream of auditions all the way till 4:15pm. It was definitely a long day, but we had some really amazing people come in to audition. Listening to professional actors recite lines that I wrote was totally thrilling and it brought a whole new level of reality to the production. I couldn’t help thinking, this is really happening.
While many of the actors who came in to audition were truly talented actors, some of them simply didn’t fit the characters that we envisioned. Others spoke with heavy accents. One actor actually took out her phone and began texting – while she recited the sides. Yes, really.
We found some gems, however. We’ve narrowed the massive stack of headshots to just a few per each role. We’re letting the actors know our casting decisions on Monday. When we get confirmation, we’ll start posting the actors’ pictures and bios. Check back for behind-the-scenes video of our casting session and stay up-to-date with the production’s progress.
Thanks for reading!
-Sam