Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho, whose Wagner Moura-starring The Secret Agent just earned four Oscar nominations, including for best picture, has spoken out against the “outdated way” sometimes followed in film industry casting that concentrates on the look of people considered for a role. “It’s not about good looks,” he said. “It’s about something else.”
Mendonça Filho made the comments during a “Big Talk” Saturday evening that also featured Spanish director Carla Simón (Romería, Alcarràs) during the 55th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).
“Every time we are looking for people to work in a film, the casting process, that’s when you open a window and begin to understand the pressures that come from the industry,” the Brazilian director said. “Because there are agencies,” and TV series, other players and input that you are asked to consider.
“There is a lot of pressure on us making a film to accept, to look at certain actors for certain roles,” he said. “The pressure doesn’t necessarily work on us, but it is a little tense.”
Argued Mendonça Filho: “There is still this outdated way of looking at actors and actresses as good-looking, which is something I find really old, because you might have a beautiful cast, but … sometimes you just fall in love with an actor or actress on screen because he or she is so amazing.” And they may not be a trained actor or actress. “It’s not about good looks,” he concluded. “It’s about something else.”
The filmmakers on Saturday also discussed working with children on set, with both lauding young people’s naturalness and authenticity. ”They also make adults better actors,” Simón offered. “They are more in the moment.”
Mendonça Filho, though, suggested that the social media age may make some kids lose that authenticity. He recalled seeing, during a casting, a child who looked directly at the camera like an influencer. “It wasn’t just a kid,” he said. “It was a TV kid, it was an internet kid.” The kid he ended up casting was “just a wonderful boy and very expressive.”
Simón also recalled a case of a seven- or eight-year-old girl at a screen test describing another girl as ”my enemy” because the two often end up at the same castings. Concluded the director: “So, I try to not get the kids that come from an agency.”
Mendonça Filho, on Saturday, also expressed his love for showing and seeing a big group of people in movies. “A film is always a great opportunity to show faces,” he said, lauding the “phenomenal” diversity of faces in Brazil, which he likes to tap into. “It’s something I have done extensively.”
The filmmaker also shared that he doesn’t like it when people in movies are called non-actors, criticizing the separation between professional and non-professional actors. Highlighting that Secret Agent features around 60 actors with lines, he emphasized star Moura’s work with the rest of the cast. “He was very important for making this ensemble work,” the director said, lauding Moura for his “generosity.”
Simón echoed the role that people who are not trained actors can play in films. ”I’ve never worked only with actors,” she said, highlighting her belief in the importance of “emotional memory” that all people can tap into when shooting a scene.
IFFR runs until Feb. 8.
