Casting my Actress

After I postponed the shoot to find a cinematographer, I knew I was going to have to deal with the backlash of scheduling. I conveniently had everyone I needed at that time. But I thought of the old quote "haste makes waste". Even though I could have made it then, what would be the point if it wasn't worth a damn. I'd reschedule for the Summer when people would be free again.

In addition to the challenge of searching for a talented cinematographer in ARKANSAS, I had also received news via email that my actress would now be too busy to play the role of Christina.

What's this? One of your friends dropped out of the movie?

Before I'm bombarded with the "I told you so's" in reference to depending on your friends. Let me point out that she wasn't a close friend of mine.

She's a girl from my hometown that not only had the exact look that I wanted but she also wanted to become an actress.

Here's a better question, did I ever audition her?

No, I didn't. But before you judge me remember what I've said about wanting to work with non-pro's and it giving me the authentic feel I wanted. Plus almost all wannabe actors that have experience usually suck. Watch most low-budget movies or any College theatre and you'll know what I'm talking about.

I tried to work it out with her, and see if I could change the schedule to suit her needs but she wasn't having it. Which led me to believe it may have been something else.

Maybe...having to KISS ME?

Whenever you have to do a kissing scene it's always awkward but you learn to make it work. In my acting experience I've had to kiss a girl that I completely hated, kiss a guy, make out with an ugly girl for about a total of 20 minutes, and grope a girl I barely knew. And two of them were smokers (as if that could make it any worse).

But you find a way around it to make it less awkward every time. Some of those required a lot of imagination.

This time though, it was more awkward than ever. Because I wrote the scene and was casting it. It's like "Hey you, you should be in my movie...where you end up kissing me, because I wrote a part where you kiss me and I picked you to do it".

You're probably thinking I'm thinking too much about it, but people think about that kind of stuff. Especially actresses.

So who knows, that may have been it or maybe not. But whatever,,no point in wasting time there. I knew I needed to move on if I was gonna have this thing ready for Summer. I searched all over for a good way to cast actresses.

I used mandy.com, craigslist.com, backstage.com, nowcasting.com, and a few others I don't remember.

Backstage beat them all.

It's funny. All this time I'd spent auditioning and trying to get cast. I was now on the opposite side and you learn so much from it.

Another crazy thing is all the beautiful actresses trying to be cast in the movie. I can imagine all the losers that use their position to get those girls in another position. And believe me, from what I've heard, it happens a lot.

I wasn't finding anything in state or anywhere close. In fact the three of the best actresses I found lived in the New York/New Jersey area.

I wanted a Hispanic actress since it would add more to the almost all white cast. Plus it would show another part of small town southern culture, the thriving Mexican community (not exactly just a southern thing).

I actually saw an Asian girl on Backstage that fit the look despite the fact she wasn't Hispanic. She also had a lot of experience, was currently living in Memphis, and was into experimental film making. So I asked her to audition for the movie.

I first interviewed them over the phone to see if they were someone I could get along with and had the personality I wanted in the character.

Then I had about ten of the actresses audition via YouTube since they all lived so far away.

After looking them all over, one stood way out from the rest. The Asian girl I mentioned. Not only was she exactly what I wanted, she was able to have fun and improv too. Not to mention she was confident enough to burp in the beginning of the audition.

I talked to all of them and sent them some direction and had them do it again. To see if they could take direction. Even though she did it right the first time.

I knew I wanted her for the role, but I acted like she was one of the dozen I was in talks with. Then after about a week I let her know I chose her and that was it.

Not only that she was super easy to work with. To get her here I offered a plane or whatever, she chose the Greyhound. I guess she was used to it with the touring she'd been doing with her Musical.

Great actress that fitted what I wanted, was local-ish, and completely fell within the budget.

I know I was actually using a non-non-pro. But sometimes a cheap SAG actor can work and seem natural. And she was awesome.

So that's how I cast her. That was just casting one character. I couldn't imagine having to cast every character. Another reason I'm glad I cast my friends.

Look how it worked out though. I would be able to get a DP, got a better actress, and still be able to get everyone together for the movie.

And they all lived happily ever after.