Unsung Heroes: The Casting of 'Zodiac'

Hey there, film experiencers. Michael C here from Serious Film. After nearly two dozen episodes of this series I think it’s about time I touched on what is probably the most important under-the-radar job there is: the casting director.

Think about the challenges casting director Laray Mayfield was up against filling out the cast of David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007). 

The sprawling, decade-spanning narrative covers dozens of important speaking roles, various cops, reporters, and victims, which the viewer is expected to keep straight as they appear and reappear over the course of the story. Actors have to be cast who can embody the personality of the character in a way the script doesn’t have time to explain. Yet within those types, she has to find performers who can deliver a unique flavor that stands out from the pack. Dermot Mulroney, Donal Logue, and Elias Koteas all make believable cops, but no one is going to confuse one with the other.

John Carrol Lynch, loveable "Norm" no more.When it came to casting Zodiac himself, Fincher went with the bold choice of having different actors appear as the killer in order to fit the conflicting descriptions the surviving victims gave in each incident. Mayfield and Fincher somehow manage to pull it off without distracting or confusing the viewer. Each of the various Zodiac incarnations has a distinct feel – the Zodiac at the lake is more thuggish than the sinister Zodiac who threatens the woman and her baby on the highway – but the technique never calls attention to itself.

Mayfield outdid herself with the casting of the more substantial roles of the Zodiac suspects. With a story this maddeningly ambiguous the suspects need to project everything and nothing. We need to believe we may be in the presence of evil, but not tip the scales so far that we can’t buy it when the leads don't pan out as hoped. The casting of John Carroll Lynch – loveable Norm from Fargo – as lead suspect Arthur Leigh Allen is a particular masterstroke. In that riveting interrogation scene the viewer studies Lynch’s face along with the cops trying to decipher if they are witnessing the sneering arrogance of the Zodiac or just dumb belligerence. 

Along with her intuitive casting choices, Mayfield distinguishes herself with the depth of her talent search. Names like Anthony Edwards, Ione Skye and Charles Fleischer aren’t exactly at the top of every casting director's  A-List, but they’re perfectly deployed in Zodiac. They slide into their roles with utter believability and their underused star power in small roles adds immeasurably to the film.

It’s outside the box thinking like this that led Mayfield to provide The Social Network with one of the most memorable ensembles of recent years.

There is little fame and glory to spare for the casting director, yet one hears over and over that it is in the casting that most films are made or doomed. As a viewer, all I can judge is the finished project, and going by those results I think it’s safe to say Laray Mayfield is doing her job as well as anyone working today.

Waif vs. Waif: Mia Wasikowska vs. Saoirse Ronan

[This guest post is from Ester Bloom, recently reader-spotlighted. She and I were speaking off-blog about how much we missed the old shuttered website Fame Tracker. Ester whipped up this homage to one of their best series "Two Stars: One Slot". We hope you enjoy. -Nathaniel R.]

Battle of the Stars With Unpronouncable Names

Mia & Saoirse on May 2nd, 2011 at the Met Costume Gala

Saoirse (“Sur-shuh”) Ronan and Mia Wasikowska (“Vash-i-kov-ska”) burst upon the scene at roughly the same time: In 2007, S. Ronan lent much-needed eeriness to Joe Wright’s Atonement in her first major role and received an Academy Award nomination. In 2008, Mia W. elevated both the HBO series “In Treatment” and the Daniel Craig vehicle Defiance, earning a place as one of Variety magazine’s “Actresses to Watch” in the process.

Since then, neither actress has sat on her hands. S. Ronan gave critics something to praise about Peter Jackson’s misconceived but lush adaptation of The Lovely Bones. Mia W. brought gravitas to Tim Burton’s misconceived but lush adaptation of Alice in Wonderland and helped made 2010 The Year of the Teenage Virgin with her role as the daughter in Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right.

Mia W. skipped ahead with a career-defining turn as the fierce, independent, young star of Jane Eyre, matching the intensity of Michael Fassbender. S. Ronan caught up by embodying another titular character: the fierce, independent, young star of Hanna, where she matched the intensity of Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett.

Mia as "Jane Eyre" & Saoirse as "Hanna"

Both parchment-skinned, fiery-eyed women hail from the former British Empire: though S. Ronan was born in New York, she was raised in Ireland, and Mia W. is from Canberra, Australia. They are only five years apart in age, and in many ways they could be sisters: they share a self-possession and a grace not easily found among Hollywood starlets. (Try to imagine either of them falling out of a limo, half-dressed.)

But where do they go from here? S. Ronan appears later this year in another popcorn flick about teenage assassins called Violet and Daisy directed by Geoffrey Fletcher (an Oscar winner for the screenplay of Precious). It could be good—Hanna is good, anxiety-inducing fun—but the presence of Alexis Bledel as a co-star doesn’t inspire confidence. After that, S. Ronan will return to form (and to screen with Cate Blanchett) in another, hopefully better, Peter Jackson vehicle, The Hobbit.  

Mia W. has chosen a more indie route, joining the crew of Gus Van Sant’s Restless and Rodrigo Garcia’s Albert Nobbs, as well as several other small-budget projects. 

Both of these steely sylphs have it in them to succeed despite their tongue-twisting names. Who has the edge? S. Ronan’s Hanna scared the bejesus out of audiences and Manohla Dargis, and she is already one of the youngest actresses to get an Oscar nomination; she has proven she can play to the mainstream and to art houses. Mia W. could manage a Best Actress nod this year for Jane Eyre and has plenty of other roles that will be catnip to Oscar on the horizon, but she hasn’t yet proven her box office chops. We have faith in both and this could easily be a draw, but Mia W., with more serious projects coming up, gets the edge.

Advantage: Mia W.

She's Still in Love With Judas, Baby

Another couple of months, another Lady Gaga short film. Thankfully she's calmed down a smidge since the epic EPICNESS of "Born This Way" which was messy MESSYNESS.

Sometimes it's good to have a simple concept and just execute it well.

In this case its Christ & Disciples as biker gang with Gaga as the Holy Fool / Biker Chick who can't choose between her two (archetypal) men, saintly Jesus or bad boy Judas (Norman Reedus!) who is so rebellious he demands that his name be pronounced with extra syllables. Speaking of. Love the tongue-tripped lyric bridge.

In the most Biblical sense,
I am beyond repentance
Fame hooker, prostitute wench.

Video: B+ That Bit w/ the Lipstick: A+ The Break: D+ (video breaks are tired. just dance!) Song: B

P.S. TANGENT TIME:  I'm totes enjoying Gaga's reign these past couple of years but, gotta say it, really missing Madonna today. Like as in more than usual.

Maybe it's because Madge looked flawless at the Met Costume Gala. Maybe it's because this is Gaga's "Like a Prayer" no? I'm not saying that in a negative 'ripping off Madonna' way people like to assume. I'm saying that as in this is the moment where the stars feel indestructable and poke at the religious people's eternally thin skin and risk their noisy wrath while making some sort of dance-ready point about the eternal internal spiritual war that's a universal part of being human". That moment.  "Like a Prayer" is Madonna's very best song (A+) in a discography with astounding number of viable options for that title. So that's probably how the pangs of missing are so acute. Excited for her directorial effort W.E. -- when will we see it? -- but could use more music real soon. It's been so long since "Hard Candy". Just one more record as fab as "Confessions on a Dance Floor", please!? Pleaseandthanks.

P.P.S. We now return you to your normally scheduled film programming.

Reader Spotlight: Borja

Hey people! Sorry we missed the spotlight last week. This is a series where we get to know members of The Film Experience community!

This week I'd like to introduce you to Borja from Spain. He's a talent agent so if you're an actor or actress, maybe one day he'll be staring at your headshot or reel!

Nathaniel: Borja thanks for doing this. How did you discover The Film Experience?
BORJA:  I was googling an actress two years ago and clicked over. I love your point of view Nathaniel and it's a place where people are passionate but respectful -- something rare on the web.

Thanks. Do you remember your first movie?
The first I remember vividly was Raiders of the Lost Ark and I left the theater changed forever. I was only six and it was my true favorite for a long time, the benchmark for all action and adventure movies. All the people involved became my heroes: Steven Spielberg, who is directly responsible of my love for movies, Harrison Ford and, of course, Karen Allen. Marion Ravenwood is still one of the most fascinating female characters of all time.

So underrated! I'm feeling generous so I'm giving you FIVE favorite actresses. Go.
I´ll try…

Sigourney Weaver: My first favorite. I discovered her for the first time in “Ghostbusters”, a movie where she is funny, sexy, dark and intelligent. The definitive love came with “Alien”, logically. There is nothing I can say about Ellen Ripley that hasn't been said before. The idea of a woman taking control, being brave, tough and credible at the same time… Ufff… too much for me, I was trapped. Weaver is much more than Ripley though. Highlights on her career: “Year of living dangerously” (my personal favorite at the moment), “Working girl”, “Gorillas in the mist”, “Death and the maiden” or “A map of the world”. One word to describe her? Unique. No one before, no one after her.

Penélope Cruz. To understand my passion you must live in Spain. She became a national star at 18, with two movies: “Jamón Jamón” and “Belle Epoque”. Since then, she has had a career with up and downs, but being the most successful Spanish actress in history, becoming a big star in Hollywood, having problems with the English language and finally being nominated to three Oscars and winning. During that whole time I was supporting her from a distance. In Spain, the coolest thing you can say about her is that she is a bad actress, she is not so beautiful and looks cheap. It´s so tiring! I think she has the screen presence only the greatest stars of all time have.

Kirsten Dunst: The most underrated actress of her generation. I love how she takes the simplest way to create a character. You will never see her overacting or being selfish, she is always honest, transparent and clean. You can read everything through her eyes. I find her fascinating as a woman, I love the way she looks, the way she talks… everything ! She is not at the peak of her popularity these days but I´m sure that's temporary. Can't wait to see her work with Von Trier.

Michelle Williams: I was a "Dawson's Creek" addict and I remember being very mad because everything on the show was designed as a vehicle for Katie Holmes (nothing against Mrs. Cruise). But since the pilot I was in love with Michelle… in fact I remembered her from “Species”, that terrible Alien-with a hot blonde movie. Since then, she has proved not only that she is a versatile infinite actress but that she has taste and guts choosing projects. And it doesn't hurt that she is a class act in everything related with her exposed and difficult life.

Kate Winslet: Capable of everything. Period.

You work in the industry as an agent right? What do you look for in actors to decide to represent them?
Mmmm… difficult question. I could talk for hours about this and say nothing but I will try to be concrete: The perfect mixture of talent, intuition and charisma. Oh, and I try to work only with good people, this is fundamental for me.  

That's SO under-discussed. Let this be a lesson to all budding film professionals: it's not only talent or looks. If you're not good people, who will want to hang around you all day on set?

OK, wrapping up. The movie of your life. Title? Star?
The title should be: “La camisa del hombre feliz” (“The shirt of the happy man”, kind of…) and who I want to play me? Uff… Must be short, with dark hair and a big nose. Ben Foster comes to my mind, or Emile Hirsch. Those could work.

previous episodes of this series

The Rose

may flowers, blooming each afternoon

Just remember.... in the winter... far beneath the bitter snow...

How beautiful is that song? On a scale of 1-10? 11! One of the all time classics.

I don't think we've ever discussed that particular Best Actress race. Sally Field took her first Oscar for Norma Rae "UNION!". But who gets your vote?

• Jill Clayburgh, Starting Over
• Sally Field, Norma Rae
• Jane Fonda, The China Syndrome
• Marsha Mason, Chapter Two
• Bette Midler, The Rose

I've just realized that the reason we've never discussed it here at The Film Experience is that I barely remember these movies (and have never seen Starting Over ... which sounds like a spiritual sequel or straight up remake of An Unmarried Woman). I remember really liking the other four performances when I saw them on VHS (gulp) in the late 80s. I was a huge fan of Chapter Two in particular for a split second but barely remember it now. No one speaks of Marsha Mason anymore...