With Newton’s Cradle, we’ve done a few staged readings of the script along the way.  They were quite helpful in spotting what did and didn’t work it terms of pacing, dialogue, structure, etc.  But it’s not until auditions that you really see the characters come to life.  When a skilled performer has taken time to prepare their interpretation, the results can sometimes be stunning, even with material you’ve known backwards and forwards on the page for months.

We primarily used Breakdown Express to locate actors for our audition process. As producers, we submitted a short breakdown for each role, explaining in general terms what we were looking for. Actors, who registered via the service Actor’s Access , saw the breakdowns and submitted themselves online. This is a vast improvement over the process we used when making short films years ago – submitting breakdowns to a print weekly and then getting hundreds of headshots via snail mail. Even just keeping track of all that physical material was a challenge.

So we go through the submissions online and find the actors who seem like they might be a good fit. How do we pick? Well, honestly, a lot is based on look. Does this person look right for this role? It’s not about glamor here, though some roles might require that. It’s about finding faces that seem right for this particular part. To some extent, it’s a process of discovery. Sure, we go in with some ideas about what the characters will look like, but there’s also quite a bit of “Hmm, yeah, that look might be a good idea.” in going through the photos. Then we do a scan of resumes to see where everyone is coming from. It’s all a bit arbitrary, it’s true. But not completely, the needs of the film serve as the ultimate filter.

Then we do the first round auditions.

I feel for actors, I truly do. It’s got to be impossible, walking in that door and facing a group of strangers with the sole purpose of being evaluated in a few minutes time. It’s a brave thing to do.

In the audition room for Newton’s Cradle, we had four people.  The director, Marshall McAuley, and the producers, Rodney Ramsey (that’s me), Steve Barr, and Eunice Choi.  We all have input and discussion, but of course the final choice lies with the director.  It’s also my opinion that no one should be in the audition room who isn’t a part of the decision making process.  It’s not really fair to the actors, who are already under enough pressure as it is.

We send the actors small portions of the script, called “sides”, a day or two before the auditions, to give them some time to prepare their interpretation. Then we set up a schedule of quick, short blocks of time (5-10 minutes) to see as many actors as possible in a session. Typically the approach is for the actor to come in, do the handshaking and introductions, then read through the side once showing us their choices about the character and scene. Then the director will provide some direction and the actor will run through it again. The purpose of the second runthrough is largely just to see how the actor adjusts when given direction. Even if their initial take is amazing, we still want to see if they can quickly and intelligently interpret the director’s comments and adjust properly.

So what else are we looking for in this first round?  Some of it is undeniably appearance – does the actor look like we thought, are they good for the role when we see them in person?  Most of it, though, is really performance.  We all have ideas about what the character should be, but we’re also looking to be surprised by someone who makes them more than that.  And there’s always someone who makes them more than we expected.

Some actors filter themselves out immediately by being obviously unprepared.  Most seem to have put at least some effort into it and give a decent performance.  And then there’s those who have clearly really thought about how they should play a role and bring something special to it.  Those are the ones we bring to the callbacks.

Watching auditions for a film does require some learned skills.  You have to learn to imagine how the performance is going to look on screen.  You’re seeing the whole person in three dimensions, but it’s not going to be that way to the audience.   I end up mentally framing the actors,  though if something interesting happens outside the frame, I do make note of it.  What I’m really after here is looking for people who are aware that their actions are magnified on-screen.  People who know how to take advantage of that and use the subtle movements and expressions film requires.  Every now and then we’ll get a great actor who’s wrong for our project because they’re stage-acting. Stage is very different, with big gestures and emoting.  Some stage actors have a hard time toning it down, and so aren’t really good choices for film.  Having said that, many of the leading candidates for Newton’s Cradle have resumes that are primarily stage-oriented.  Sometimes good actors are just good actors!

Then we come to callbacks, which are really about two things.  One is chemistry- how does this potential cast member play against that one?  Another is seeing if what we saw in the first round carries over- do they bring something to the role when we try them out in other scenes?   Every now and then we find the first round was a fluke, they hit the bit we did then amazingly well, but they somehow seem wrong for a different bit of the script.   The vast majority, though, continue to bring good performances.  Which is where things get hard.

For Newton’s Cradle, we called back 12 actors, 4 for each of our three lead roles. We had three sets of sides: one with all three roles, one with the two males leads (David and Ian), and one with a male and female role (David and Marie).   These are the crucial chemistry combinations for our film.  We broke the actors into sets of three, a David, a Ian, and a Marie,  more or less arbitrarily.   We ran everyone through the trio scene and the David/Marie combo.   After running all 12 through, we let a few actors go.  All good, but not right for these particular roles when seen against other actors in the other roles.  Then we picked who we’d like to see with who, and ran again through all three sides.  This is all about chemistry, and playing off one another.

And when it clicks, it really clicks.  It’s an amazing thing to see.  Now we’re not just seeing characters brought to life, but we’re seeing actual scenes from the film brought to life.  It’s always very exciting to get to this stage.

Casting has gone well for Newton’s Cradle, and I think we’ve got some very good candidates for the roles.  All three roles have special challenges, but it feels like we’ve got actors who can meet them.   Smart people who understand what’s needed and are talented enough to deliver it.

I’m looking forward to making the final decisions and moving ahead with what promises to be a truly excellent cast!