The final character we cast that day was Sophie, the interviewee in the aforementioned scene. We came up with a monologue for this audition, and it seemed to be the piece that the actors most took to. I think it’s tough sometimes to relate to genre material, particularly when you’re sitting in an office, far away from the context of the film. So, we had a lot of great reads on this, in a variety of styles. A lot of the people felt a bit too actor-y; it was more a performance of the lines than in an immersion in the character. But Dina Cataldi did a great job and scored the role.

One of the things I really like about doing the webseries, as opposed to a single film, is the ability to tailor the character to the actor in the writing. I know what these people bring to their characters, and a lot of the time on set, they’ll talk about motivations that fit perfectly, but I wasn’t even considering. It’s more of a split custody thing than a simple ownership by the writer. I like that, I like letting actors do their own thing with a role because it makes them feel more like individuals, not products of the same mind.

The tough thing about auditions is we saw a lot of great people who didn’t do anything wrong, who would be good at the role, but wouldn’t be the best. I’m more used to being on the other side of the desk, interviewing for something and not getting it. And, I probably didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just when there’s thirty people reading for four roles, you’ve got to be better than good, you have to be the best.

It always makes me feel like a real director when I do the casting. It’s tough in the indie world to keep going, uncertain of whether anyone will ever see this film that you’re sinking so much time into. But, the fact that so many people came out to audition for the project is vindication.

Next time, I’ll discuss the first few days of filming, some lessons learned and some strange things that happened. In the meantime, check out this second trailer for the series, this time, focusing on Morning.

Visit the official Third Age website.