Filmmakers are holding their last major auditions of the summer for the Drew Barrymore film "Everybody Loves Whales" today and Saturday at an Anchorage mall.
The flick, a fictionalized retelling of the 1988 effort to save three gray whales trapped in sea ice near Barrow, starts filming in Anchorage in two weeks, said Grace Olrun, one of two Alaska casting directors.
Casting directors are preparing to see as many as 2,000 people in order to hire about 1,000 extras. The jobs pay minimum wage -- $7.75 an hour -- plus a hot meal.
Have an old '60s, '70s or '80s-era car, snowmachine or three-wheeler that actually runs and can be used in the film? You may be able to earn a little extra, Olrun said.
"We are interested in, especially, any Alaska Native males who are comfortable on a four-wheeler or snowmachine," she said.
Bonus points for those who can safely handle a rifle and chain saw.
Olrun said there's no need to wear '80s clothes to the auditions, which consist of standing in line, filling out a form and getting your photo taken. The cattle call starts at noon today in the Dimond Center mall, near the ice rink and across from Round Table Pizza.
People who get the jobs should be prepared to show up for 12-hour days on short notice.
The movie stars Barrymore as a Greenpeace activist and John Krasinski as a small-town reporter. Ted Danson and Vinessa Shaw recently joined the cast, The Hollywood Reporter website reported this week.
Danson will play "a win-at-all-costs oilman who has no interest in saving the mammals," the Reporter says, while Shaw plays a White House staffer.
Olrun and fellow casting director Deborah Schildt have been auditioning hundreds of Alaskans across the state this summer. Murmurs of Alaskans earning spots big and small have been circulating in recent weeks.
"Woot! Gonna be an extra in the 'Whales' movie as a reporter!" KTUU Channel 2 reporter Todd Walker Tweeted on Tuesday.
Filmmakers hoped to cast Alaskans in about 30 speaking roles, Olrun said. As of this week, most of those spots had been filled.
That includes three major parts for Alaska Native characters, Olrun said. She wouldn't say who filmmakers have in mind.
"Until it's been signed on the dotted line and the terms have been accepted, nothing's set in stone," she said.
Those roles include:
• Malik, a Barrow elder who agrees to help with the rescue to avoid alienating lawmakers and to protect whaling rights.
• Nathan, Malik's young grandson, who balances his whaling life with his love of "modern" amenities like his Sony Walkman and Guns N' Roses.
• Roy, an up-and-coming young whaling captain who "definitely has opinions" about the rescue effort but respects the wishes of the Barrow elder.
That's according to interviews with Olrun and descriptions of the roles casting directors sent to Alaska Newspapers Inc. before a round of auditions last month in Bethel, according to news reports at the time.
Actors who are originally from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta have been approached for the two adult roles, while a boy with "very strong ties to Barrow" may play Nathan, Olrun said.
"All three reside in Alaska," she said.
Among the roles that the filmmakers are still undecided on is Ronald Reagan's chief of staff -- a buttoned-up, political operative type around 45 years old, she said.
Most of the movie will be shot in the Anchorage area, said David Linck, a spokesman for the film.
Filming is scheduled to begin Sept. 16, he said.
The movie appears only loosely based on the real-life tale of California gray whales stranded above the Arctic Circle and the media frenzy that followed. Eskimo whalers used chain saws to widen breathing holes for the whales, and a Soviet icebreaker eventually carved an escape route for two of the animals. A third had earlier disappeared and apparently died.
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Alaskans wanted for 'Everybody Loves Whales'
When:
• Noon to 5 p.m. Friday
• 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday
Where:
• Dimond Center mall, across from Round Table Pizza, near the ice rink.
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