Mastering Your Craft: Casting with Des Hamilton
07 December 11
11 January
18:15
Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH
Finding the right actor for a role is critical in helping the director realise his or her vision. As Des Hamilton, one of the best discoverers of acting talent, puts it: "A film can look beautiful, it can sound great but if you're watching two planks of wood bang their heads together it's going to be crap".
As a measure of his regard with serious British and European filmmakers, Glaswegian Hamilton has worked with some great directors: Lynne Ramsay, Gaspar Noe, Shane Meadows, Lars Von Trier, Lone Scherfig, Andrea Arnold, Nicolas Winding Refn. He's got a strong reputation for helping find inexperienced actors (or non-actors) with the charisma and talent to pull off a lead role: Thomas Turgoose in This is England, Katie Jarvis in Red Road, Ashley Walters in Bullet Boy, Samuel Bottomley in Tyrannosaur.
Hamilton's other credits include: Melancholia, Four Lions, Antichrist, Wuthering Heights and Enter the Void, to name a few. Here he'll talk about how he works with the director to understand their needs and then sets out to unearth the right talent, often taking great risks to find the actor who will bring truth and authenticity to the film.
Booking information:
£12, £11 concessions, £10 ICA and BAFTA Members: Please click here to book
