Anatomy of a Selection
We don't have the exact date for the start of filming; it's currently estimated between June 3 and 10, but one thing is certain: the casting for the lead role is complete. I wouldn't say it was the hardest casting process I've been through, nor the easiest, but it was certainly energy-consuming. We started in October 2023, paused for a period, then resumed the process. Once again, a word of thanks to Florentina for the way she accompanied me through this process. I've already told here about part of the process of choosing the actor who will play Bogdan, but now that we've reached the final decision, I want to leave here some thoughts that followed me throughout this selection.
I don't know about others, but after making the final choice, I felt a great emptiness. It was as if until then I had been in the same space with all those who were going to be Bogdan, a space that was shrinking more and more, and we were touching each other and I couldn't tell who was who anymore, only for all of them to disappear after the choice, including the chosen one, who had somehow hidden inside me, while the space had expanded to the dimensions of an abyss. The first thing I felt was the separation from those I had given up on, from any nuance or particularity that each brought, and these losses seemed fatal to me. On the morning following the day I made the choice, I asked Florentina what the Romanian term is for casting director. I was surprised to find that there isn't one, there wasn't one before '89, and the New Wave hasn't imposed a term for this position either (I don't know why they would have :))) so I went back to the source of the term. I'm a dime-a-dozen English speaker—video cassettes, games, and the internet were my basic teachers—so the first two most common of the eight meanings of the verb to cast clarified for me why the term is used for selecting actors.
To cast has these two fundamental meanings:
To throw something (to cast a net, to cast a stone, to cast away) - which reflects the process of selection and elimination, of "throwing away" actors who don't fit the role.
To pour into a mold (to cast in a mold, to cast bronze) - which represents the process by which the chosen actor is "poured" into the form of the character, adapting to its contours and dimensions.
To descend into the etymology of "to cast" is like opening a drawer with two secret compartments. A word that simultaneously means to throw and to shape? Cinematically perfect.
When casting, the first movement is centrifugal—you throw away what doesn't fit. Not just actors, but possibilities, potential universes. It's violent, even if necessary. Each "no" closes a door, each "thank you, we'll call you" is a film that will never exist.
Then comes the opposite, centripetal movement. The actor you keep must adapt to the contour of the character, like molten metal poured into a cold mold. But here's where the complexity comes in—the character's mold and the actor's material influence each other reciprocally. A strong actor modifies the character; a strong character transforms the actor.
At the casting for Monarh, this tension was always present, this dance between throwing away and forming. Each "yes" and each "no" became not just a decision, but a declaration about the film that was going to exist.
At the end of the day, it was just me and the actor. We sat at the edge of the lavender field, he hummed this song:
We waited for Bogdan to appear. He didn't take too long. Apparently, he took a detour through Spain and Portugal