Christian’s 1st Casting

On Saturday, a mum posted a casting call on one of the facebook groups that I am part of.

We are casting for an upcoming TVC shooting 10th & 11 August 2012 (Fri & Sat).

Rates: Fully Paid
Roles: Cast Breakdown:
Asian, Pan asian
1) Male - early 20's to mid 40's, Executive & father role
2) Female - early 20's to late 30's, Executive & mother role
3) Kid - Girls, 3-9 yrs old
Boys, 3-9 yrs old
Babies, below 1 yr old
4) Grandmother - 50's to 70's
5) Grandpa - 50's to 70's
It's non-speaking roles.

I thought it would be an interesting experience for Christian, and I was also interested to find out if he would enjoy it. (I had also asked Gonggong, since others always say he looks young and handsome.. hahaha..but he declined, saying he is not photogenic. =7)

The fact that the rates would cover half a term of school fees didn’t figure as much in my decision to let Christian try out (although it is a nice thought for him to finally earn some $$ after the thousands spent at PDs and schools haha).

P thought Christian would enjoy expressing himself because his actions and emotions are often larger than life. And so I squeezed the casting into our very packed weekend and turned up at the film company’s studio on Sunday after church and lunch.

Christian surprised me. I was afraid he would be shy or uncooperative. He surprised even the casting director, who said that he takes instructions very well, for a 4 year old boy. It helped that she turned all her instructions into a game. He was told to play games of "grinning widely into the camera”, “smiling without showing teeth”, “see how fast you can turn to face the wall/door/front”, “pretend to look bored” (this was very hard for him cos he kept grinning, we had to do multiple takes for this segment, and I had to model the poses for him), “run around in circles and in the direction of mama”.

He complied with everything good-naturedly and was very amused with the studio set-up. I felt a burst of pride as I saw him there. Even if he doesn’t get selected, he’ll always be a star in my eyes.