Casting & Character Conventions

Films of the crime/drama genre usually include two main protagonists. The majority of the time this is a female character and a male character that fall in love while their is action happening around them and then the film is based upon their relationship and the incident.
There is also usually an antagonist who plays a part in trying to break up the main love interests in some way. The antagonist can differ but stereotypical examples are: someone who is above the protagonist either the father or a boss or someone who doesn’t want the couple to be together like another girl or another boy.

Sometimes crime/drama films will include the detective/suspicious type character who is acquaintance with the main male or female protagonist, and usually the two characters are part of a detective group or a secret HQ.

I looked at the casting conventions that were followed in crime/ drama films from my genre-specific deconstructions:

Female Casting:

Uma Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. She is in her late 40s and is one of the oldest actresses in my deconstructed films.

Her mother is a Swedish psychotherapist and former Vogue model once married to the LSD guru Timothy Leary. Uma’s mothers father, German baron, was held by Nazis because he didn’t want to reveal his Jewish friends hideout. Uma has been briefly married to Gary Oldman when she was nineteen.

This physical appearance links them both by their striking blue eyes and dirty blonde hair when not wearing a wig, connoting to the stereotypical representation of modern day young American women. Who could forget the crazy overdose scene that ends with John Travolta in ‘Pulp Fiction’ stabbing an adrenaline shot into Uma’s heart? It not only terrifies you to stay away from drugs but also shows you a glimpse into Tarantino’s magic as a filmmaker. This shows how good of an actress Uma Thurman is when coming down to certain characters.

Toni Collett (born 1 November 1972), known as Toni Collette, is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television, and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish. She received six AACTA Awards, one Emmy Award and one Golden Globe Award, and has been nominated twice for a BAFTA Award and once for both an Academy Award and a Tony Award.

At being aged 42,She would have been the perfect age to play the role of the boss. With production, acting and directing experience as well she would of handle being in the film very and well and very productive. She also follows conventions of a crime/drama film as she follows the stereotypical blonde damsel in distress. However, I our film she will be the character with most of the power so this will break stereotypes.

Aubrey Christina Plaza is an American comedian and actress. She is best known for portraying April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. After appearing in supporting roles in several films, Plaza had her first leading role in the 2012 comedy Safety Not Guaranteed. Plaza currently stars as Lenny Busker in the FX series Legion.
Plaza began her career as an intern. After performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, she appeared in the web series The Jeannie Tate Show. She later appeared in films such as Funny People (2009), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), 10 Years (2011), Dirty Grandpa (2016), Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), The Little Hours (2017), and Ingrid Goes West (2017).

Plaza is conveyed is ‘Safety Not Guaranteed’ as a very sexual woman who gets what she wants when she wants it. She is portrayed in the film as very sarcastic and judgemental. She wears very relaxed clothing but can also dress well when she’s going out. She would be perfect for either the boss role or the victim role as she is between the ages where she could categorise as either.

Robin Gayle Wright is an American actress and director. She stars as Claire Underwood in the Netflix political drama House of Cards, for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 2013, making her the first actress to win a Golden Globe for a web television series. Wright has also received consecutive Primetime Emmy nominations in the Outstanding Lead Actress – Drama category for House of Cards between 2013 and 2017.

In ‘Forest Gump’ Wright is portrayed as a gentle kind girl who only wants what’s best for her friends. This is stereotypically how young woman are seen to act on the screen. They are seen to be only caring about friendships and their lovers rather that working and doing something with their lives. However, Wright playing the character in this film would very much well fit the role of the victim as the victim has to act very helpless and defenceless like how the charter in ‘Forest Gump’ does.

Male Casting:

John Travolta is an American actor, producer, dancer, and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series ‘Welcome Back, Kotter ‘me Back, Kotter (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Grease (1978). His acting career declined through the 1980s, but enjoyed a resurgence n the 1990s with his role in Pulp Fiction (1994), and he has since starred in films such as Face/Off (1997), Swordfish (2001), Wild Hogs, and Hairspray (both 2007).

With only being 19 in ‘Pulp Fiction’, Travolta definitely suited the role in my opinion as he looked the part of a hitman. Similarly to our film; we wanted the hitman to wear all black or in a suit if best and Travolta is just how the group wants our hitman to come across to our audience like Travolta did.

Haley Joel Osment is an American actor. After a series of roles in television and film during the 1990s, including a small part in Forrest Gump playing the title character’s son (also named Forrest Gump), Osment rose to fame for his performance as a young unwilling medium in M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller film The Sixth Sense, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

“The Sixth Sense was a lot less scary to make than it was to watch”. The slow process of production took a lot of the fright out of the macabre thriller, Osment revealed. “There is something desensitizing (not necessarily in a negative way) about seeing the whole process of making a horror movie that prevents you from being too scared going forward,” he wrote. Even now, he finds it hard to get scared by a horror movie.

For our film in particularly, the groups film would not cast Osment purely on the basis that he is far too young. In our film; we need a hitman a victim around the age of teens and a boss whose  a bit older. Even though, Osment is such a great actor and would look great as a hitman now he’s age. In ‘The Sixth Sense’ he would been far too young.

Jake Johnson is an American actor, comedian and director, most commonly known for playing Nick Miller in the Fox sitcom New Girl opposite Zooey Deschanel, for which he has received a Teen Choice Award nomination among others. Johnson also co-starred in the 2009 film Paper Heart and the 2012 film Safety Not Guaranteed, as well as appearing in Get Him to the Greek, 21 Jump Street, and Jurassic World. 

In the film ‘Safety Not Guaranteed’ Johnson’s character is portrayed as the clumsy, funny character of the film but can also have a heart to hear with a girl. The character follows typical conventions of a man as stereotypically a man will act all tough around his friends but as soon as they talk to a girl they are very different. Johnson would very much fit into our film as he is the right age of what we would and the audience would see as a hitman as he is very close to age to James Bond.

Thomas Jeffrey Hanks is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Splash (1984), Big (1988), Turner & Hooch (1989), A League of Their Own (1992), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Philadelphia (1993), Forrest Gump (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Saving Private Ryan (1998), You’ve Got Mail (1998), The Green Mile (1999), Cast Away (2000), Road to Perdition (2002), The Polar Express (2004), and The Da Vinci Code (2006), as well as for his voice work in the Toy Story series.

In ‘Forest Gump’ the character Forest Gump is played by Hanks who takes the role into being a very dopey character who doesn’t understand much about the outside world, he very much has his own little bubble. This type of character would not fit into our film as in our film we need high IQ characters as the boss and hitman are in an important society formed in a top secret HQ. Robin Gayle Wright is an American actress and director. She stars as Claire Underwood in the Netflix political drama House of Cards, for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 2013, making her the first actress to win a Golden Globe for a web television series. Wright has also received consecutive Primetime Emmy nominations in the Outstanding Lead Actress – Drama category for House of Cards between 2013 and 2017.

As you can see from the list of character from each film that I have deconstructed, they are all American. Could this suggest that only American actors/actresses are good enough to be in high end films? Does this suggest that stereotypically all American actresses/actors can only play a wide variety of roles in films? Is this because all top end film are produced in Hollywood so its easier to get the actors/actresses from near by?