{"id":345421,"date":"2025-07-04T00:48:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T05:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/04\/who-gets-to-be-on-the-big-screen\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T00:48:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T05:48:16","slug":"who-gets-to-be-on-the-big-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/04\/who-gets-to-be-on-the-big-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"Who gets to be on the big screen?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"A<\/div>\n

Casting director Lucy Pardee lifts the lid on her latest project, Lollipop, and working in the casting industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In\u00a0<\/span>Rocks<\/i><\/a>, a teenage girl struggles to care for her little brother after being abandoned by her mother; In\u00a0<\/span>Bird<\/i><\/a>, a young girl seeks magical adventure away from her unpredictable father; In\u00a0<\/span>Aftersun<\/i><\/a>, a young girl\u2019s father-daughter holiday comes to hold melancholy meaning. These moving, character-focused recent films share one thing: they were cast by Lucy Pardee. The BAFTA-winning casting director has worked with some of the UK\u2019s finest directing talent, from Andrea Arnold to Jonathan Glazer to Lynne Ramsay, discovered countless homegrown stars and had decades of industry insight dedicated to widening diversity on the big screen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pardee\u2019s careful casting has paid off since her first casting director credit with Arnold\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Wuthering Heights<\/i> to her most recent film, Daisy-May Hudson\u2019s feature debut,\u00a0<\/span>Lollipop<\/i>. The poignant drama follows single mother Molly (Posey Sterling), fresh out of prison, trying to regain custody of her children but unable to while she\u2019s homeless. It\u2019s a piercing narrative that required a skilled cast. Demystifying the casting process, Pardee notes that finding the right actors is completely different with every project, but with\u00a0<\/span>Lollipop<\/i>, the focus was connection and authenticity. \u201cBecause Daisy-May\u2019s a documentary filmmaker, meeting people is really important,\u201d Pardee explains. \u201cShe\u2019s rather alternative. She wanted to bring a candle to light, but I said no, so instead she brought scents to neutralise the energy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pardee shares that this interest in actors with lived experience is where street casting comes in. \u201cThere\u2019s a real misconception that we just wander up to people,\u201d Pardee clarifies. \u201cSometimes we do, but street casting is impossible without contacts with organisations because they will help us translate opportunities for the groups of people they work with.\u201d Pardee\u2019s experience working with theatre companies\u00a0<\/span>Clean Break<\/span><\/a> (an organisation illuminating the stories of women in prison) and\u00a0<\/span>Cardboard Citizens<\/span><\/a> (the UK’s only homeless people’s professional theatre company) informed Lollipop\u2019s outreach. Pardee says the very purpose of this approach is \u201cabout making the ramp into the room accessible to people without previous acting experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lollipop embodies this outreach. For instance, TerriAnn Cousins, who plays Molly\u2019s mother, came through Clean Break when Pardee previously cast her in\u00a0<\/span>Silver Haze<\/i><\/a>. Also, Idil Ahmed, who plays Molly\u2019s supportive childhood friend Amina, joined\u00a0<\/span>Lollipop<\/i> through an organisation that works with East African and Somali communities after seeing Kosar Ali, an actor of Somali descent, star in Rocks. \u201cI felt incredibly proud that we could bridge Kosar into the industry with Rocks,\u201d Pardee said. \u201cIdil and her four children are huge fans of Rocks. She was one of the people making a connection; Idil had never acted before, but felt like this was an opportunity she could step into because someone else had.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite these connections and having a slate of exciting projects, Pardee highlights that she remains concerned about the shrinking space for newcomers in the industry. \u201cThere\u2019s a real insecurity at the moment in terms of projects being seen,\u201d Pardee shares, adding that there\u2019s added pressure on casting directors to work with actors with profiles, the antithesis of independent film as \u201ca crucible for launching talent.\u201d In response to this industry-wide insecurity in the arts, Pardee co-founded and serves as an advisor for\u00a0<\/span>We Are Bridge<\/span><\/a>, an industry body committed to supporting \u201cpeople who have come into the industry through alternative pathways, bridging to their next opportunities.\u201d It\u2019s not just allowing an actor a first role, but helping them secure a second.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Frankie<\/div>\n

This work surrounding industry access is not just based on anecdotal experience; less than 10% of film and TV workers are from working-class backgrounds, the lowest in a decade, according to\u00a0<\/span>Channel 4<\/span><\/a>\u2019s 2024 report. Pardee says progression towards diverse working-class representation is \u201cnot a cultural shift to the future, but it\u2019s almost a cultural shift to the past\u2026 [the UK] has a tradition of\u00a0<\/span>working class representation<\/span><\/a>; we\u2019re not breaking boundaries that haven\u2019t been broken before, we\u2019ve neglected pathways. Austerity kicked the shit out of those pathways which started with dramas in schools and youthclubs and access at community level.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pardee cites\u00a0<\/span>Adolescence<\/i><\/a> as an interesting example, as much of the young cast came from grassroots drama organisations. However, these programs aren\u2019t free to access. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole wave of talent that, as soon as you put a price on it, isn\u2019t able to do it,\u201d Pardee notes. \u201cPrivilege does not equal talent.\u201d This barrier to entry is not only harming the industry but also the quality of independent film.<\/span><\/p>\n

This investment in the next generation is also clear in several recent films Pardee has worked on (<\/span>Lollipop<\/i>,\u00a0<\/span>Bird<\/i> and\u00a0<\/span>Aftersun<\/i>), which see her tasked with finding children and young people who can handle emotionally mature scenes. Exemplifying this, Luke Howitt and Tegan-Mia Stanley Rhoads deliver fantastic performances as Molly\u2019s children in\u00a0<\/span>Lollipop<\/i>. Rhoads is particularly impressive as she sobs and pleads for her mother to obey the rules to regain custody of them. Pardee explains that reaching such emotions is built around fictional play and imagination; there\u2019s an end goal, but the journey to that point is up to each actor.<\/span><\/p>\n

There has been a recent dialogue about social media followers dictating who gets into the casting room when it comes to casting young people. \u201cNot in my world!\u201d Pardee laughs, remarking social media is a double-edged sword: though it has unlocked a door for accessibility, an over-reliance has led to a \u201cgeneration of people who will send a self-tape based on, I think, how they look.\u201d Pardee emphasises that self-tapes will never replace auditioning in the room, which is a safe space for failure and imperfection: \u201cI don\u2019t know whether it\u2019s COVID or social media, but there\u2019s definitely risk aversion in the younger people coming through. In art, you must be able to take a swing, miss, and feel ok to take another one.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jennifer<\/div>\n

Pardee\u2019s upcoming slate includes much-anticipated projects, including Lynne Ramsay\u2019s psychological\u00a0portrait\u00a0<\/span>Die, My Love<\/i><\/a>, starring Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Lawrence. \u201cWe found Robert in a Greggs,\u201d Pardee laughs. \u201cI\u2019ve been working with [Ramsay] for quite a long time, but this is the first time we\u2019ve cast a feature film together. She creates such a ripe, safe environment. I think that\u2019s why we all do some of our best work with her, because of this safety.\u201d Pardee is also in the \u201cvery, very early days\u201d of casting<\/span>\u00a0<\/i>How to Have Sex<\/i><\/a> writer-director Molly Manning Walker\u2019s A24 show about girls’ football. Pardee notes she\u2019s conducting a lot of outreach and that authentic representation is a core focus for this casting. \u201cIf you want to represent a story authentically, I believe in: \u2018nothing about us without us\u2019. Because Molly is part of this community, it\u2019s so exciting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Many stars have passed through Pardee\u2019s casting process, but one of her most memorable was\u00a0<\/span>Aftersun<\/i>\u2019s Francesca Corio. Corio beat out 900 applications to star in\u00a0<\/span>Charlotte Wells<\/span><\/a>\u2019 heartbreaking film, opposite\u00a0<\/span>Paul Mescal<\/span><\/a>. Pardee remembers auditioning 16 girls in a snow-covered, empty wedding venue in Glasgow in 2021 with Welles and producer Adele Romanski. Pardee recalls the special moment: she acted opposite Corio as her mother, and the young actress had to reach a point of sadness. \u201cShe was so genuinely sad, I got this feeling of \u2018we\u2019ve found her!\u2019 It was profound,\u201d Pardee recalled. \u201cI asked her, \u2018What were you thinking about?\u2019 She said her guinea pig is about to die. The next day we tentatively asked about her guinea pig. Frankie said: \u2018My guinea pig died, but it\u2019s ok, my mum brought me a chip supper. So I\u2019m fine\u2026 let’s act!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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