I am looking for a Caucasian male actor between 50 and 65. Please send your demo reel and pictures to estelle@myriadefilms.com (links only, no download). This is for the role of the father’s lead in my movie. The father is a character that has gone missing so if you feel you can play someone who creates holes in other people’s lives, submit. I plan to film this in October. This is a real casting notice and if you think it’s insane to cast like that, keep reading.
Gage & Tollner, “the most famous restaurant in Brooklyn” according to its website, is a stunning place with its “ornate dining room, 36 gas-lit lamps, brocade wall panels and series of tall, elegantly arched, dark red cherry wood-trimmed mirrors running three sides of the room”. It was the first time I was dining there, and since everywhere I go is potentially a location for my film I registered the quality of the light on the brass ornaments, the mirrors, and the bar’s deep perspective.
A great place to film, I thought, before diving back into my shrimp scampi. Then a long tattooed arm brought the next dish. I lifted my head and stared up at the waitress. I guess that’s how a film director’s ‘coup de foudre’ for actors operates: you can’t take your eye off the person while everything around them is dimming. Or was that the restaurant lights? Either way, it took me a second to register all the contrasts she was made of: the tattoed arms with the tie-and-white-apron dressy uniform, the long feminine eyelashes with the angular dignified face, the static composure with the doe-like eyes. She was more than just striking, there was something so real about her. I spent the dinner telling myself ‘Why don’t you ask her if she would play a part?’, but didn’t dare. For the next two days, I couldn’t get her out of my head. On the third, I went back to Gage & Tollner.
Once there, I spoke to the host, explaining that I wanted to offer a small acting part to the tall dark-haired tattooed young woman who was waitressing three days before. Did he know her? The host wasn’t sure. Too many tattooed arms on the staff. He went to the kitchen and back but returned alone. “By the way, I’m an actor too,” he said. “Can I send you my demo reel?” Sure, but what about the tall dark-haired tattooed young woman who… He looked at me weirdly. He must have thought that I was lesbian but at this point, I didn’t care. “Why don’t you leave me your email”, he said. “and I will share it with whom I think she might be”. Okay… I left my email, certain that I would never hear back from him or anyone at Gage & Tollner. Two days later I got a message from Sarah.
She agreed to a Zoom call but joined the meeting with her camera off. As I was trying to convince a black screen that my project was legit, I felt how strange the whole thing was. The film industry has such a bad rep that I could anticipate the question: why me, a waitress who has never acted? How could I tell her “because it’s you”? So I explained the role which made me sound even crazier: no lines, running, fighting, holding a phone… oh, and we’re shooting this weekend. But the worst was yet to come.
When Sarah finally turned her camera on, I did not recognize her. Under the flat light of her room, she looked nothing like the stunning waitress at the restaurant. Was I even talking to the right person? I asked her to show me her tattoos, she had them. In my memory, she had more. This is when I realized that I didn’t see Sarah ‘the person’ in the restaurant, but a character already in my film. I had to trust this vision. It was there, somewhere, in the Sarah in front of me. We talked some more and at the end, she said she would think about it.
I didn’t sleep before filming day. Would she even show up?
Not only did she come but she was perfect. Sarah is a natural, everything starts to gravitate around her when she is in a room. We filmed all morning and she was great in every single take. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the trust Sarah extended to me.
Adding a few stills from our set below, I realized there is also a strange physical similarity between us (the haircut!). Asking New York City for actors may take you through dim restaurants and awkward Zoom calls, but if you dare to go all the way, the result is extraordinary.
Hi - What are your plans for the film once you’ve completed it?