Harry Potter open casting call

I would be very surprised if the 3 leads were all white. I think they are looking for a more diverse casting

What is "merit" here?

Of course they will want children who can speak clearly and act, but there will be thousands of them. Plus, if they wanted the most proven child actors, they wouldn't run an open casting.

Which means they are looking for a type or a feel, for some kind of fit, which is the opposite of merit.

That said, I totally can imagine half white half Korean/Japanese Harry. Dark hair and a potential for a properly modern emo look for the later series.

I agree with them casting on merit, I know about the play and had no problem with it. Why would I. Its only that the comment I originally responded to sounded like they were saying the producers already had a fixed idea that they didn't want a white Hermione, or they didn't want all three child leads to be white. Which seems wrong to me.
Bridgerton didn't cast on merit alone, the actors are all fantastic but that programme definitely started out with a fixed agenda to be different and create an alternate reality of Georgian England, and it works and is none the worse for not being historically accurate.

I submitted my 10 year old daughter, however she had hermione coloured long hair and bright blue eyes plus hermione's accent so I doubt she will get called as she's too close to the original hermione!

My kid has submitted videos. I wonder when they'll hear more?

They are set in the 1990s.

Yeah weve done it. Ds wears glasses and has a similar scar on his forehead so thinks it's in the bag!!

For his monologue he did the Liam Neeson one from Taken 😀

Mine has a self tape via agent to do this weekend too. Fingers crossed!

Yes we need to do our self tape this weekend

My daughter was submitted by her agency (she's new to the agency and hasn't ever been cast in anything) and we've just had a self-tape request come through the agency. Given non-agent applicants are submitting self-tapes directly not sure if this is a "good" sign or anything. Anyone else similar?

Get her in a talent agency, that way if she doesn’t get one of the major roles she might get more chances.

Because that’s not how casting works and it will be watched by British children now. Diverse casting casts a wider net for talent, and means that new audiences will engage with it without feeling like it doesn’t represent them. But I’m sure you know all this and are just being goady for no particular reason.

The London Harry potter theatre production, Hermione is a black girl. She is fantastic in it. J K Rowling publicly gave her support for the casting. They will likely cast on merit, rather than the colour of skin. Rightly so!

Look at Bridgerton casting. Their cast is amazing. They certainly didn't stick to the book.

During the process it gave me the option of paying to open up paid member benefits. I just clicked on past that bit and signed up for the free basic login which allows you to submit through the open casting link.

They must be making a fortune if some are paying 🙈😮

But why? It's a British book and Britian is something like 82% white isn't it? And back in the 80s when the stories were supposed to be set it must have been more like 92% white.

What have I done then? I thought I signed up for a free account too?

DS is just old enough next year and wants to have a go. We've warned him he probably won't get very far but he wants to have a go for the experience. He has very green eyes in the right colour clothes and messy hair when long so he's hoping that helps 🤣

I didn't pay anything at all. It is free to submit an open casting call. The charge was if you want the other benefits such as searching for jobs. I just registered for a free account. I can log in and can see my account and the 2 audition tapes I submitted. I just can't use the other parts of the site.

My ds1 fits the age criteria and loves acting but there's no way he'd do it - he's too anxious and highly strung. Ds2 is too young which is a shame!

As an aside, I'm looking forward to eventually seeing the show - I wasn't really a fan of the movies.

Mine got a self tape request via agent (I'd written it off as saw loads had been asked last week) so one very tiny step forward but obviously not seeing it as anything realistic!).

When I told the eldest she said she'd prefer a smaller part as didn't want to give up the next 10 years of her life! But then said of course she'll do the tape so can't be totally against it.

My daughter now has a casting through her agent for it. She’s very excited by it. I’m very much hoping we don’t get a recall- I think it’s waaaaay too much.

Ooh, perhaps I’ll apply when they open casting for Dobby

I don't think it charges you on an ongoing basis does it? I paid for the one off submission but don't recall seeing anything about a subscription? Have I missed that?

I would love to hear how many applicants they get! But I'm sure we will not hear anything until the cast is revealed next year. Unless selected for more auditions of course.
This process would be brilliant for a fly on the wall documentary series 😆