COLORADANS CAN BE EXTRAS IN NEW REDFORD MOVIE
The $21.5 million Robert Redford/ Jane Fonda movie “Our Souls at Night” will hold an open casting call for extras in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
Shooting locations for the new film, which is based on the final novel by the late, acclaimed Colorado author Kent Haruf, include Florence and Colorado Springs, but some limited production will take place in Denver this fall, said extras casting director Kelly Hunt.
“What we’re really looking for is just normal people,” said Hunt, who runs extras casting for the film with Tracy Dixon. “It’s not Hollywood. Just real, normal, beautiful people with a small town-type look.”
The casting call will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hillside Community Center, 925 S. Institute St. in Colorado Springs. People can apply online at oursoulsatnightextras.com, where they can download, print and fill out a PDF application. Interested parties
unable to attend on Saturday can also e-mail the document to OSANextras@gmail.com or call 310-630-3747 for recorded information.
A second casting call has been scheduled for Sept. 10 in Florence — two days before the film is scheduled to begin production — but a location has not yet been finalized. The casting directors are hoping to find thousands of locals to work as extras on the film.
Hunt said the production needs men and women of all ethnicities ages 12 and up, including elderly extras, to wear their “normal, everyday clothes” and come prepared with a photo of themselves and their own transportation (which may also be featured in the film). She’s hoping for anywhere between 900 and 2,000 people to show up on Saturday, despite the short notice. Anyone hired will be paid minimum wage for 8 to 15 hours of work.
“Usually we like to have more prep time, and this one was kind of close,” said Hunt, who has worked on films such as “Anchorman,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Adaptation.” “My impression is that they’re going to be pretty true to the book, which is this sweet story about two neighbors who have lived next to each other for 40 years and the dynamics of family. Most movies these days are car chases and shoot-you-down, blow-’em-up. This is not that movie.”
Hunt also said the movie plans to shoot a few scenes in Denver in a “fancy, upscale hotel setting with nice gowns and suits,” but the location has not yet been finalized.
“Ours Souls at Night” is one of several major film productions shooting in Colorado this year, including the throwback horror movie “Hoax” and a creative reimagining of Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden.” The productions, which have received millions in tax breaks from the Colorado film commission, are expected to pump millions more into the state’s economy and help attract more and bigger films in the future.