Backstage
How was the cast chosen?
Jane: Contrary to popular belief, the 大象传媒 didn't insist on any particular cast, but shared our ambition to attract the highest possible acting talent. The producers, (myself, Simon and Gareth), the director (Bharat) and the casting director (Di Carling) then sat round and discussed ideas for each of the characters.
Robert Vaughn was suggested to my partner in Kudos, Stephen Garrett, and we all thought that was a really original idea, and Robert would be perfect for Albert.
We then met several people for each part but we were lucky enough to be able to cast our absolute first choices and we are constantly thrilled and delighted with the performances.
Simon: Once Tony had delivered the script for the first episode, my immediate thought was "this is so good, how the hell are we going to get a cast to live up to these characters?".
Tony had created incredibly strong characters, each with their own particular style and panache, but they also had to form a believable, if unusual, "family" unit.
The way I work is to write out a list of ideas for each character, ranging from A list Hollywood stars to a complete unknown you saw in a play the previous week. Then we all sit down (me, plus the Exec Producer, the director and casting director) discuss them and come up with a (generally sensible) list of people to send scripts to. Then they come in for a chat about the show and read a couple of scenes. You tend to know instantly when you've met the right person - and it's not always the actors you expect it to be.
Naturally, with a Hollywood movie star, this casting process was slightly different for Robert Vaughn. Instead, in a much more civilized environment than the casting office, we met Robert and his agent for lunch in an old-fashioned showbiz restaurant in Soho, where we peppered him with questions about The Magnificent Seven, Bullitt and The Man from UNCLE. He was a delight and we knew straight away that he could bring a whole new dimension to the part of Albert.
I am so pleased with the final cast that I now simply cannot imagine the characters played by any other actors. They are also a total joy to work with - which makes a huge difference to a producer.
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