Actor Research

Our Actors:

'Chris' - played by Chris Holland. 

Chris Holland

For the protagonist of our film we had to have an actor that was available during the times we needed, was close by and not requiring pay. We looked on various acting websites in order to search for volunteer actors that were close by to our desired location. However, we were unable to find any Chris plays the protagonist in our film who is a middle aged man who struggles with mental illness. We decided to use Chris in our film because he had the look we desired for our character. This ideal look would be to have an older man with grey hair if possible and a fairly rugged aesthetic. Chris was perfect for the role in terms of appearance as well as for playing the character as well as possible. This meant that our protagonist was able to be conventional of the gritty realism genre as main character in this genre often have a 'run down' look rather than pristine and glossy (like a lot of Blockbuster films). As our protagonist suffers from a mental illness we needed someone who would be able to play this well and subtly. Chris further proved himself to have the ability to play this character. This is because Mr Holland has experience in working with people who have mental illness so was able to relate and respond to the character and produce an accurate portrayal of those who suffer with mental health issues. Furthermore, Chris is a professional story teller so was comfortable when being filmed and when performing a role for others. On top of this, Chris is 43 which is around the age that we wanted our character to be. These factors made him the perfect option for embodying the character we created.

'Chris Mark 2' - played by Alex Atack. 

Alex Atack

'Chris Mark 2' is the antagonist of our film and is the embodiment of the protagonist's, Chris, mental illness (schizophrenia). For this character we wanted someone who could play a dark and manipulative character who would prove to be cruel and malicious. When considering who could play the role voluntarily and easy to access, not far away. Furthermore, we also wanted a younger actor than the actual protagonist as a way of representing the childishness of the protagonists characteristics and personality, as an effect of his mental illness. We also wanted someone who, similar to the character of Chris, would appear quite rugged. 
Our original choice to play this character was a friend of the group, Pascal Bisson (pictured below). We decided to use Pascal as he had the look we desired, a strong bone structure which added to the dark and mysterious look we wanted. Another contributing factor as to why we chose Pascal was because he is 17 and this was around the age that we wanted our protagonist to be. As well as this, Pascal takes A level drama so we were aware that he would be able to portray the character as accurately as possible as he is an experienced actor. Pascal was happy to work with us and consequently lived nearby to the filming location which meant he was easily accessible.
However, there was a clash in schedules which meant that Pascal was rarely available and was thus only able to be the actor for this character in a few shots. This meant that he is now only seen in the first draft of the film.

Pascal Bisson

We then needed to find someone who was able to play the role in the way that we wished and had some of the characteristics of the antagonist that we required. Alex was evidently a second best choice for this character. Alex is a close friend of the group and lives near Bristol, which is far away from the chosen location. This would have caused difficulty, however, the dates we wished to film coincided with the das that he was visiting Sidmouth. Furthermore, Alex's quiet and reserved persona mean that he would easily be able to fit into the required role. He volunteered to step in, in place of Pascal, and was happy to help out with costumes. We decided top go with Alex as our actor as we believed he was capable of playing the role of the manipulative persona well without having any past experiences with acting.