Adventures in Casting: Unexpected Gems

Contrary to popular belief, once a movie is written, the project is about 20% finished. As stated before, casting is a very important aspect of making a movie that can make or break it. While I lucked out with the lead for OotGG, all the other parts were up in the air.

In OotGG, Caleum's sister, Abby, passes away which leaves Caleum without family. This void is then filled by the criminal organization that becomes Caleum's surrogate family. Abby is only in the movie for a short time. Never the less, she is the catalyst that sets Caleum on his journey into the underworld. Basically what I'm trying to say is that Abby is a very important character and I had no idea who would play her. Most of the movies I work on, I already have someone in mind for a part. This time, I was drawing a complete blank.

I met with Varlo Davenport, who runs our local theater department. They were casting for two plays at the time and I was able to sit in on the casting sessions to see if any of the actresses would work for OotGG. Sad to say that none of the women were right for the part of Abby. I was a bit bummed out.

My problem was I at the wrong casting sessions.

 When I returned home that evening, my wife asked how the casting went. I told her that no one stood out. We then talked about the qualities of Abby and what I was looking for. After discussing for about an hour, my brilliant wife brought up a great idea:

"Does Abby have to be white?"

I didn't have an answer. I thought about her statement. Abby didn't necessarily have to be white. My wife went on to explain that it is very common to have interracial families. The face of the modern family is no longer a mom, dad, brother and sister all of the same race. This opened doors I never thought about.

The next day, I was sitting in my Make Up class applying my old man make up. I noticed out of the corner of my eye a girl who was in my Acting for the screen class. Her name is Darcee Warner. She was a great actress and now that I had my mind opened, I ran down the hall to ask her if she would participate in OotGG. When I caught up to her, half my face in old person make up, I pitched her the idea. She was excited. I later emailed her the script. We then set up a time for Darcee and Ben to get together and do a read.

A real angel this one.

I was stoked. I found my Abby.