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3.05.2008

calling all "very, very nerdy" chinese guys

Some follow up to that Milk casting call I posted the other day, which called for a nerdy, asexual Chinese American male. I kid you not. But that's not all. Think that's something to get worked up about? It gets worse. I got this email from an actor friend who also auditioned for the part, and has the inside scoop:
The listing you posted was a breakdown from Nov 29th and if you thought that was something -- check out what they listed a few days after they saw some potential candidates. They RE-released this on Dec 10th with a few clarifications after apparently not finding what they were looking for:

Monday, Dec. 10, 2007, 5:50 PM Pacific
MILK (Re-Release Michael Wong)
Feature Film
Independent
SAG

PLEASE NOTE UPDATES TO THE FOLLOWING ROLE:

[MICHAEL WONG] 18 to 22 years old, Chinese American. THE ULTIMATE DORK. Very, very nerdy. He is one of Harvey Milk's political advisors...ACTOR MUST BE CHINESE-AMERICAN

Yes, that's "very, very Nerdy" as if nerdy wasn't clear enough. I swear to God this is real. This is how I figured I probably didn't book the part when they released it the day after my audition.

But apparently Kelvin was what they had to compromise on since he was at the auditions prior to the Re-released listing. They just could not find the Uber-Nerd they were looking for I suppose.
That's a doozy. I like all the extra emphasis on "very, very nerdy" and "THE ULTIMATE DORK," just in case you didn't get the picture. I guess they really had their heart set on casting a super nerdy Asian guy, and nobody in the first audition quite fit the bill. Did they have to dial it back a bit to cast Kelvin? Goodness, I hope so. Or we shall soon find out what the ULTIMATE DORK looks like.