We were fortunate to have had Mexican casting director Aurora Nemegye as a part of our crew for the Mexican production shoot. Aurora is known not only for spotting exceptional professionals but for her ability to find amateur talent through “street casting.” As we prepare for our May 1st shoot featuring the International Worker’s Day March and so many community members in Los Angeles. We thought we’d ask Aurora to share a bit about the concept of “street casting,” and how it works.
Anike: Aurora, how would you define street casting?
Aurora: Just like it sounds; street casting got its name because casting directors were heading to the streets to find their cast, or more specifically to look for actors with specific characteristics for a particular role. In Spanish, we call them “actores naturales.”
Anike: Natural Actors?
Aurora: Exactly, and while they may not be professionals, natural actors often have an awareness and personal experience that they can use for the role, bringing a sense of authenticity in front of the camera. For years, European fashion Scouts found their talent on the street, the great supermodels of the ’90s were especially known for having been found this way. While street casting has been around awhile the trend has become increasingly popular in Mexican art cinema. Perhaps most recently evidenced by the recent Oscar nomination of Yalitza Aparicio — found while studying to be an educator in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, by a casting director who was looking for the protagonist of Alfonso Cuarón’s film “Roma.”
Anike: Why do you think that street casting has gained so much popularity as of late?
Aurora: A film director usually decides to work with street casting when he or she wants to give his or her film an almost documentary aesthetic. For example, with our shoot in Mexico, we were lucky that actor Ricardo Cisneros, a strong professional actor in his own right, also qualified as a “natural actor” in that he had real-life experience to lend to the film (a real immigrant to the U.S. playing an immigrant on screen). While we were shooting the scenes of the deported character tracing his origins, struggling with the language of his native country, etc. it just so happened that the central American caravan had arrived in Tijuana right around the same time. We literally went to the streets to find natural actors, listened to their stories and experiences and recruited them for our protest on screen. There is no acting technique that can bring about this kind of authenticity – they were literally living the experience we were exploring on film which makes this final march scene take on an impressive force.
Anike: Well let’s hope we capture the same quality during our May 1st march shoot. Many community members will be in the shoot as well as activist and first-time actress Paulina Ruiz. We found Paulina, as you know, through street casting – literally on our own block as she is a CHIRLA member. Paulina will be playing the role of the protagonist daughter, Valentina.
Aurora: YES! Paulina is going to be a fantastic addition to the cast and I know the shoot is going to be great!
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Want to see yourself on screen? You can join us for our May 1st shoot! We’ll be featuring many kinds of folks, the more diversity the better, plus you’ll be marching for a great cause! Reach out to us at info@americasfamily.com and we’ll get in touch with the details.
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