Brookside resident and casting director Heidi Levitt is taking a turn in front of the camera…with a cameo appearance in the new feature “Kings,” with Halle Berry and Daniel Craig.
“The first English-language film from the Turkish-French director Deniz Gamze Ergüven (her 2015 movie “Mustang” was a foreign language Oscar nominee) is well-acted across the board, and contains more than a few outstanding, unpredictable scenes,” wrote reviewer Glenn Kenny in a New York Times review earlier this week.
Levitt wrote on her Facebook page that “no matter what…this will be a movie that will make you feel something, make you remember LA 1992.” It’s also, she said, “the only movie ever that yours truly will play a role on screen. Please support and check it out on the big screen in theatres this weekend. Proud to have cast, and been cast by the wonderful director Deniz Gamze Ergüven.”
Levitt also cast all the young actors in the film…and she offered her take on the casting process in a recent interview with Backstage Magazine:
“The family is very much at the heart of the film, but the dialogue was so sporadic. For the little kids especially, I did a lot of improv and interviewed the kids. For me, casting kids is really casting partly the character and partly the essence of that kid. You want to find that quality that matches the character so that it’s natural when they’re playing it. We needed each of these characters to blend in and be part of a family. After I did improv, I brought in kids in groups and again created situations for them to play against. It was mostly about a dynamic and finding kids who can follow the directions, can bring their own spark and sense of self to it, and also be part of a group.”
“Kings” will opened in theaters on April 27.
