Planning - Casting and Characters (28)

Characters profile

Basic info
Name: Morana Rose Stark
Age: 26th May 2000 (17 years old)
Parents: Alec James Stark, Bethany Wilson

Personality/backstory
At the age of two her mother left resulting in her being raised by her father alone. As she became older she started to become very interested in photography and capturing memories in the form of a photograph. She would capture moments with her father and with her friends and hang them in her room. This was so she could always see and remember the good times she has had. As well as being interested in photography she is also a big animal lover and has two pet rabbits and two dogs which she cares for along with her father. She isn't fond of cats or sports.

Physical description
She likes to wear jumpers and hoodies, particularly in the colours green, yellow and red. She often wears subtle make-up and has long brown hair which she likes to wear up in different braids. She is often seen wearing a ring on a necklace around her neck which belonged to her grandmother and a silver bracelet which her older brother gave her.

Basic info
Name: Alec James Stark
Age:  28th April 1968 (49 years old)
Children: Morana Stark, Lucas Stark
Marital status: Divorced Bethany Wilson after she abandoned the family in 2002
Occupation: Accountant

Personality/backstory
He met his ex wife in uni and they dated for six years before marrying after finding out she was pregnant with their first child (their son Lucas). They then had their second child (their daughter Morana) much later on. By this point the spark in the relationship between Alec and Bethany was fading and just after their daughters second birthday Bethany left. Alec divorced her soon after  and takes custody of the children. The older son has moved out and does his own thing while he still takes care of Morana at home.

Physical Description
The father typically wears earthy colour clothing which consists of jumpers, button up shirts and jeans. He tends to wear things that don't really stand out and the only constant thing he wears is his wedding ring which he keeps on for sentimental reasons.

Basic info
Name: Anne Rogers
Age: 17th December 1991 (26 years old)
Marital status: Not married
Occupation: Police detective inspector

Personality/backstory
She has very recently been promoted to Detective Inspector in the police force. She is the officer that is called to the crash which resulted in the death of Morana Stark. She is investigating the case and is the officer that has to go Morana's home and break the of her death to the family.

Physical Description
She doesn't have a uniform which is worn for her job, however she does have to dress smart and is shown to wear a smart suit and trench coat. She is shown with her hair up and a wallet which contains her ID and her police inspector badge which she has to show to people to prove who she is.

Audition process

For the auditions I will be getting people to recite some lines from the script of The Last of Us. I have chosen this dialogue as there are some very emotional scenes in the story based video game. The main characters are Joel, a single father who lost his only daughter in the apocalypse, and Ellie who is a teenager born in this post-apocalyptic world and is the only know person immune to the zombie infection. Throughout the game their bond grows into almost a father daughter relationship which revolves around ups and downs as well as protecting each other. There are also many light hearted moments where they joke about together. I feel this script would be perfect when auditioning for the father and the daughter as this script provides many different element of emotion and feelings which I can get the actors to demonstrate. This script also helps in the fact that I can use it to see how well the actors for the father and the actors for the daughter work well together. Although in my music video there will be no dialogue, I believe that this script will help to unlock the emotions in the cast which I wish to demonstrate in my music video.

For the role of the detective I will instead give them some acting which I would like them to demonstrate. As the role is so small and minimal I don't feel there is much need to have anything particularly challenging for the cast to perform.

                             

First piece of dialogue for the auditions 

                                   

Ellie: Is this really all they had to worry about? Boys. Movies. Deciding which shirt goes with which skirt? It's bizarre.

Joel: Get up, we're leaving. C'mon.

Ellie: And if I say no?

Joel: Do you even realize what your life means? Huh? Running off like that. Putting yourself at risk...it's pretty goddamn stupid.

Ellie: Well, I guess we're both disappointed with each other then.

Joel: What do you want from me?

Ellie: Admit that you wanted to get rid of me the whole time.

Joel: Tommy knows this area better than--

Ellie: Agh, fuck that.

Joel: Well, I'm sorry, I trust him better than I trust myself.

Ellie: Stop with the bullshit. What are you so afraid of? That I'm gonna end up like Sam? I can't get infected. I can take care of myself.

Joel: How many close calls have we had?

Ellie: Well, we seem to be doing alright so far.

Joel: And now you'll be doing even better with Tommy.

Ellie: I'm not her, you know.

Joel: What?

Ellie: Maria told me about Sarah. And I--

Joel: Ellie. You are treading on some mighty thin ice here.

Ellie: I'm sorry about your daughter, Joel, but I have lost people too.

Joel: You have no idea what loss is.

Ellie: Everyone I have cared for has either died or left me. Everyone fucking except for you. So don't tell me that I would be safer with someoneelse -- because the truth is I'd just be more scared.

Joel: You're right... You're not my daughter, and I sure as hell ain't your dad. And we are going our separate ways.

Second section for the audition

Joel: Alright, come on.

Ellie: Hey, wait. Back in Boston -- back when I was bitten -- I wasn't alone. My best friend was there. And she got bit too. We didn't know what to do. So... she says. "lets just wait it out. Y'know, we can be all poetic and just lose our minds together." I'm still waiting for my turn.

Joel: Ellie--

Ellie: Her name was Riley and she was the first to die. And then it was Tess. And then Sam.

Joel: None of that is on you.

Ellie: No, you don't understand.

Joel: I struggled for a long time with survivin'. And you-- No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for. Now, I know that's not what you want to here right now, but its-

Ellie: Swear to me. Swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true.

[There's a short pause.]

Joel: I swear.

Ellie: Okay.

Possible cast

Morana Stark:

-Lucy Rule - She has had previous experience of filming with me, having been in my practise music video task earlier this year. She is also very confident and natural in front of the camera which makes her a good candidate for the role of this character.

-Bethany Eastwick - Although she has had no experience being filmed for one of my projects she is quite a confident person and I feel she would be able to capture the emotion I wish to be shown in this character

-India Simmons - She is very experienced in acting, going to stage coach every weekend and often taking part in performances with lead roles. She has also recently been involved in a short film and so has the experience and the professionalism which I require for my filming.

Alec Stark:

-Peter Leveridge - He has been in my projects before and so knows how I work and has experience of being in front of the camera.

Anne Rogers:

-Anne Leveridge - Although she hasn't been in any of my projects before she is a similar age to the character and because this character will only be in the scene for a short time, I feel that it wont be to terrible to cast someone with limited experience. 

Footage from auditions and final choice

This is the video from the auditions and after reviewing everyone and their past experiences I have decided on my final cast. 

For the daughter I have decided to cast Lucy Rule. Out of all the girls I felt that she showed the most emotion in the audition and so I feel she will be perfect for playing the daughter. She also has the most experience out of the three girls and has worked with me before which again makes her ideal for the role of Morana Stark.

For the father I will be casting Peter Leveridge. He again has experience with filming and working with me and I also felt that he was able to show the emotion I was hoping to see in the audition for the father. For these reasons I feel he'll be perfect of the role of Alec Stark.

For the role of the police inspector I will be casting Anne Leveridge. This particular role in the music video is very minimal and so I felt that there was no need to audition the role in the end. Anne is a similar age to the character and so I feel she will be able to pull off the role quite easily.