Re: Correct-a-mundo

In an interview with the director he talked about the difficulty of finding a talented actress of Arabic descent who could also pass for 13.

Part of that problem may be the director's relative lack of directing experience vs. writing and producing. One characteristic of great directors is the ability to get great performances from children without little or no previous acting experience.

I think back to Fanny and Alexander. In the extras on the DVD is an interview with Ingmar Bergman where he talks about how he got performances he did from the title characters, who were both about 11 years old when the movie was filmed. He never showed them a script or had them try to remember lines. It was something like before each scene he just explained what was going to happen, and what he wanted them to do. Obviously he knew how to communicate WITH children, which of course is not the same as just talking TO children.)

Also, Rabbit Proof Fence, and our beloved Innocence have large casts of mostly untrained young girls who give great performances.

zlurker