I watched a video entitled: Director’s Panel: On Directing. I specifically honed in the Casting the Right Roles potion of the panel. They had several directors discussing their selections for actors/characters for movies such as The Hangover, Avatar, The Hurt Locker, UP, and Precious.
I’ve always found it interesting how actors are selected for a movie- why one over another? Do they visualize who they see in that role when the script is read? Do you attempt to pull the most famous actors/or the unknown?
On the topic of The Hangover, the director was discussing how the same 8 comedians seem to be in every funny film for the last few years. They attempted to find 4 actors (3 main roles) with actors that didn’t have “baggage”. Which is true- you think about Ben Stiller in a movie (not a fan), it takes 10 minutes or more for Ben Stiller to win you over in a new movie. What will he bring to the table this time? His style is so defined he loses some of his versatility.
By casting relatively unknown actors (or at least actors that aren’t famous for “being funny”), they opened the doors for potential. That movie (for me) was a shock. I saw the previews and thought…great, another dumb movie. But when my friend drug me to the theater, I was shocked at the tears from laughter. I think that was exactly it…the element of surprise.
The same situation with The Hurt Locker. They took the most famous actor in the movie and killed him off within the first 5 minutes of the movie. Boom! Anything can happen! So you get involved with the other characters (the less well known) and you walk away with an Academy Award.
I also found that it was interesting from the perspective of the director of UP. You don’t think about actor casting. But you cast voices and create your characters. The question was asked…how is the movie ever complete. You have a weak part with actors in a live film and you are stuck with the weakness. However, with computer animation you can tweak the final product until you are happy with the result. The director argues that like any other film you have a budget and a time frame. You can plea with certain people for more time on one thing or another, but for the most part…it’s created in the same way as a real-time flick. Interesting. I guess you think the rules don’t apply to animation as it’s a breed of its own…but in fact, the pressure is always on.