File Photo The makers of a short film which centres on a story of gender transition are still hunting for the right actor to take on the lead role, and are open to novice actors auditioning. Actually Alex is has been funded by the New Zealand Film Commission under its ‘Fresh Shorts’ Umbrella. The film is about Alex, whose best friend from childhood has tracked him down, although he isn’t ready to share a secret which has kept him in hiding. He urges his girlfriend to make herself scarce, and tries to hide evidence of who he really is, pretending to be a grown up version of the girl he was born. However, eventually Alex finds the courage to drop the charade. Filmmaker Ness Simons is yet to find the perfect person for the part, whose gender, gender identity and ethnicity don’t matter - they just need to be aged 20 to 45. While great acting talent has been on display in the auditions, she’s not sure anybody has been quite right for the part. “Without the right person as Alex, we’ve got no film, basically,” Simons says. She needs someone who can shift within a blurry gender space convincingly, whether they are trans, genderqueer or just androgynous. “We are open to people without acting experience if they really embody the character, even in their everyday lives, or have the potential to do that.” Simons says New Zealand film has seen plenty of examples of amazing performances from first-time actors. “A lot of the time it’s because there’s a part of them that sort of embodies that character naturally. So if we did get someone who was a non-actor we would definitely look to do some work beforehand so that they’re comfortable in front of the cameras ,” something she says is quite a repetitive process. “I think I’ll know Alex when I see them. And I say ‘them’ because I’m not sure yet who that might be in terms of where in the gender spectrum they might fall.” The next round of auditions will be held in Wellington and Auckland sometime in the next three to five weeks. Anyone who thinks they might have what it takes should email lollyjarfilms@gmail.com
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 15th May 2014 - 3:58pm