‘The Secret Agent’ Director Decries “Outdated” Casting Practices: “It’s Not About Good Looks”
At IFFR, Kleber Mendonça Filho lauds work with non-professional actors and the authenticity of kids on set.
Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho, whose Wagner Moura-starring The Secret Agent just earned four Oscar nominations, including for best picture, has spoken out against the “outdated way” in the film industry, where casting concentrates on the look of people considered for a role. “It’s not about good looks. It’s about something else.”
Mendonça Filho made the comments during “Big Talk” Saturday evening that also featured Spanish director Carla Simón (Romería, Alcarràs) during the 55th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).
“There is a lot of pressure on us making a film to accept, to look at certain actors for certain roles. The pressure doesn’t necessarily work on us, but it is a little tense.”
Mendonça Filho: “There is still this outdated way of looking at actors and actresses as good-looking, which is something I find really old, because you might have a beautiful cast, but … sometimes you just fall in love with an actor or actress on screen because he or she is so amazing.” And they may not be a trained actor or actress. “It’s not about good looks,” he concluded. “It’s about something else.”
Mendonça Filho noted that the social media age may make some kids lose that authenticity. He recalled seeing, during a casting, a child who looked directly at the camera like an influencer. “It wasn’t just a kid,” he said. “It was a TV kid, it was an internet kid.” The kid he ended up casting was “just a wonderful boy and very expressive.”
He also expressed his love for showing and seeing a big group of people in movies. “A film is always a great opportunity to show faces,” lauding the “phenomenal” diversity of faces in Brazil, which he likes to tap into. “It’s something I have done extensively.”
The filmmaker doesn’t like it when people in movies are called non-actors–he criticizes the separation between professional and non-professional actors. Highlighting that Secret Agent has around 60 actors with speaking lines, he emphasized star Moura’s work with the rest of the cast: “He was very important for making this ensemble work, especially his generosity.”
