New Lindsay Lohan movie: Seeking Toronto actress online
Kristina Bumphrey/AP
Filmmakers of The Canyons, rumoured to be starring Lindsay Lohan, are looking for their co-star in Toronto via the web.
Jul 04, 2012
A Toronto actress could end up sharing screen time with Lindsay Lohan in The Canyons, an upcoming thriller about 20-somethings seeking power, love, sex and success in Hollywood.
Writer-director Paul Schrader (American Gigolo, Taxi Driver) is using social media site Mobli to help cast the role of budding socialite Caitlin for The Canyons, which starts shooting in Los Angeles July 13.
Based on a script by controversial American Psycho writer Bret Easton Ellis, a formal announcement concerning Lohans casting is expected soon, although Ellis, a co-producer on the movie, tweeted the deal was done in June. It has since been taken down.
The 26-year-old actress has just wrapped on made-for-TV-movie Liz & Dick, where she plays Elizabeth Taylor.
With the tagline: Its not The Hills, the movie is already generating some online chatter, judging from its Facebook page and Twitter feed @TheCanyonsFilm.
Hopefuls wanting to try out for the role of Caitlin can find instructions at the Mobli site. The link is on the homepage at mobli.com.
We put this film together in a new media way with crowd funding via Kickstarter and we are using Mobli to cast the role of Caitlin, said Braxton Pope, a former producer with Lionsgate, who is co-producing The Canyons with Schrader and Ellis.
!Casti ng a role via social media isnt the only unusual thing about The Canyons. Adult film actor James Deen, 26, who has a staggering 897 film credits to his name on the Internet Movie Database, is taking on his first non-porn role as Lohans co-star.
Pope said the filmmakers have expanded their web casting call to Toronto because they have yet to find the right actress for Caitlin, who appears in the concluding scene of the movie.
She is a very attractive twenty-something socialite and an emotional turn for her in the scene requires an actress of certain emotional depth, Pope added.
We really wanted to not go a traditional route and have traditional casting sessions, he said. Nothing about the film has been orchestrated in a traditional Hollywood way.
The films $100,000-plus budget was raised through crowd-source funding site Kickstarter. The free publicity generated by an online casting call for Caitlin or as Pope calls it, community building cant hurt.
The new media way that we have brought the film together really empowers the filmmaker and creates a community interested in what were doing, explained Pope. Its a really cool way of interacting with people.
As for Lohan, Pope said he has no concerns about casting the often-troubled actress, whose latest scrape saw her escape injury when her Porsche collided with a dump truck on a Southern California highway in June.
She has wrapped on Liz & Dick and weve gotten a lot of feedback from people who have worked with Lindsay on previous shows and what I can tell you is I feel enormously confident in Lindsays talent, which I think is considerable, said Pope.
The actress hired to play Caitlin will be flown to L.A. for a days shooting at the end of July, said Pope. Casting closes July 9.