In order to find actors for the roles of Mark and Juliet I decided to post a job on Casting Call Pro. Peter will just be played by an extra as he only features in the wedding video - I did post a job role for Peter but due to lack of applicants I opted to have him played by an extra as his role is only minor.
The job included detailed character descriptions for each of the characters:
Juliet:
Age range: 18 - 26
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White British
Height: 5'4 - 5'8
Hair Colour: Blonde
Juliet is an outgoing character who is keen to get along with everyone she meets. She is often bubbly, radiant and romantic. She is newly married to Peter, a man whom she deeply loves and will not allow anything to break them apart. She feels slightly uncomfortable around Mark, Peter's best friend (and best man at the wedding), as she feels that he does not like her. However, she still acts warm and friendly around him to try and break his seemingly hostile attitude towards her.
Mark:
Age range: 18-26
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White British
Height: 5'6 - 6'0
Hair Colour: Brunette
Mark is a shy character who keeps his feeling buried deep. He feels awkward around Juliet due to his deep feelings for her that he can never reveal. This awkwardness has a tendency to come across as quite blunt and rude, leading him to be quite an isolated character. Deep down he is a hopeless romantic but feels he cannot express his feelings.
Choosing the cast
Finding an actress to play Juliet was definitely a lot more straight forward than finding an actor to play Mark. I had many more applications for the role of Juliet but decided to go for a model who I've worked with before.
Juliet - Played by Ellie Slater
I knew getting the casting right for Juliet's character was critically important as I needed someone who looks and acts mature enough to portray the role of Juliet as a married woman but also be able to portray the naivety of Juliet's character as she is completely oblivious to Mark's feelings towards her. I chose Ellie to play the role of Juliet as I've worked with her before and know how she behaves in front of the camera. As a model she has the confidence in front of the camera to portray Juliet's confident, bubbly character. She also has the perfect look for the role. She looks mature and sophisticated whilst also having that essence of innocence which is essential for conveying the naivety of Juliet's character.
Finding an actor to play Mark was very challenging. I only had 4 applications for the role on the job I posted on Casting Call Pro. I attempted to get in contact with the applicants but my attempts were unsuccessful as they did not respond to my messages.
After having no luck contacting the applicants for the role, I decided to search for actors individually. I used Casting Call Pro's 'actor search' and applied the necessary filters to find actors that were appropriate for the role of Mark.
After rifling through the many pages of actors, I picked out a handful that I thought would be ideal for the role and sent them a message through Casting Call Pro.
However, my attempts were again unsuccessful as I only received a small amount of responses and each of those were stating that they were unavailable for the shoot.
Due to my poor luck in finding actors through Casting Call Pro, I decided to turn to alternative methods of finding actors. I got in contact with a friend who has belonged to various theatrical groups and enquired as to whether he would be interested in the project. Although, this fell through due to him being unavailable for the shoots dates.
After unsuccessfully racking my brain for other people who may have been interested in the shoot, I turned to the help of some 3rd years on the course to see if they could put me in contact with any actors they had previously used and enjoyed working with. I was put in contact with Dave who seemed very interested and excited to be involved in the project. Discussions have been successful with Dave and he has confirmed to be my actor for the project.
Mark - Played by Dave Chawner
In my mind I had a very specific idea of what I wanted my version of Mark to look like. I wanted them to look kind and caring so it was important for them to have a friendly face. I feel like Dave was almost made for the role! He looks friendly and his previous work shows that he is able to portray a kind hearted character with confidence. Dave has had a lot of experience with acting which I feel is vital for playing such a complex role such as the role of Mark. He needs to be able to portray the sense of unrequited love without stepping over the line into obsession, I feel Dave will do this perfectly.
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