Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/760821
DGA QUARTERLY 51 The Make-or-Break Importance of Casting TLANTA'S MODEST CAST OF unfamiliar fac- es—including Brian Tyree Henry as Paper Boi, Keith Stanfield as his spacey consigliere, and Zazie Beetz as Earn's quasi-love interest and the mother of his child—gives the show a tonal fluidity. But it starts with the openness and empathy that Glover brings to his role. "That's kind of our retort to the network when they said they wanted to know more about Earnest," Murai says. "Donald has a natural pathos as a performer, I think. All you need is his face to guide you into this world." As Siega notes:"Tone is a combination of a lot of things. But the wrong person in the lead role can undo your tone." It's why the casting of a pilot feels like such a make-or-break de- cision. Zaillian says there were more than 200 speaking parts in The Night Of, and he "wanted every performance, no matter how small, to feel authentic," adding that he prefers a naturalistic ap- proach. "I was looking for actors who had the confidence not to try to do too much." After reading some 150 actors to play Naz, Zaillian finally heard about a British actor, Riz Ahmed, and watched clips of his work in films including The Road from Guantanamo and Four Lions. "I still wanted him to audition and send me the tape," Zaillian says, "but honestly, I had made my mind up. I could see he had the range to play what Naz goes through, not just in the pilot but in the whole story." Speechless director Christine Gernon says that when it came to casting, the easiest part to fill was the role of J.J., whose cerebral palsy means he communicates through an AAC (augmentative and alternate communication) device. "He's got such a charm, and such an energy about him," Gernon says of Micah Fowler, the disabled actor who won the role. The ensemble cast of Speechless had to be especially convincing, since the DiMeo family moves as a pack, led by the fearsome Maya, played by Minnie Driver. In her determination to assimilate her son into a normal life, Maya can be disarming to the point of bully- ing, even when addressing the most well-meaning reactions to her son's disability. "She is this sort of louder, strident, larger-than-life character," director Gernon says. "You have to like her. You have to be on her side. Otherwise she's just going to be an annoying woman who shouts a lot." Ava DuVernay has worked with the same casting director, Aisha Coley, since her first independent film, I Will Follow. "What's impor- tant for me is to pick people who aren't assholes. Straight up," she says. "Many casts have been broken by one disruptive presence, or three disruptive presences who just are not in line with the work." She adds: "The experience of making the thing embeds itself in the thing. I truly believe that. It shimmers differently when every- one's getting along." ® A