Hollywood casting director behind Game of Thrones explains why the show can’t have a more diverse cast
Nina Gold, who has also cast films including Oscar-winning The King’s Speech and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, explains the nature of her job and says she wants to work with Wong Kar-wai
She’s championed young talent on the big screen, too, serving as casting director for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, for example.
“Casting the new people in The Force Awakens was a pretty big risk,” Gold says on a recent visit to Hong Kong for a Bafta masterclass at the Academy for Performing Arts. “Star Wars has this huge following, and already has all these stars in it. We had to find young people to take the story forward, and we thought they were great, but it’s not until you’ve got it out there in front of 300 million people that you know whether the risks paid off.”
Bafta nominated make-up artist Naomi Donne spills secrets about Hollywood films
She is constantly going to drama schools, and watching films, theatre and TV shows, to keep an eye on emerging talent. She’s also sent countless audition videos – so many she had to hire a person just to upload them all. She has to research the background of actors, and test them, sometimes multiple times, to make sure they’re right for the part she has in mind for them.
