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Spotlighting the people and projects you need to know In the Room With
Ellen Lewis
Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg’s go-to CD shares how she cast chess champions on Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” By Elyse Roth characters. We knew from the first episode that we were going to be casting at least one younger actress to play a younger age. Then we were looking at two ages, the very young girl, and then, of course, the 13- to 14-year-old [Beth]. When you’re trying to make a match, we need to be thorough in the approach. We put out a breakdown and sat with an image of Anya. We got so lucky. Isla Johnston was British, and then the tiniest girl, [Annabeth Kelly,] is from Texas. How does the period factor into your casting process? A lot of casting is intuition. If somebody feels incredibly contemporary, you know that right away, and then know that somebody is not right.
RAQUEL APARICIO
ILLUSTRATION: SPENCER ALEXANDER; FOSTER: LORENA JIMENEZ
ELLEN LEWIS’S EXTENSIVE WORK WITH LEGENDARY FILMMAKers like Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg has established her as one of the most prominent casting directors working today. Yet when it comes to choosing projects, Lewis seeks out stories in new worlds to fill out with actors from all over the globe. This was true of her work on “The Queen’s Gambit,” the Netflix limited series that shot to No. 1 worldwide on the streamer and created a newfound interest in chess among its audience. Lewis collaborated again with “Godless” creator Scott Frank to populate the 1960s city-hopping life of chess prodigy Beth Harmon. And she didn’t do it alone. When production moved to Berlin, she began working with British CD Olivia ScottWebb and a team in Berlin to assemble an international cast to tell a story that resonated with millions. Lewis shares her process with Backstage and explains why actors can find fulfilling work wherever they live. Describe the casting process for “The Queen’s Gambit.” Anya [Taylor-Joy] wasn’t attached, and this is an age group where there are amazing actresses. I had met Anya early on, after she had done “The Witch.” She came to New
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York, and she left a pretty vivid impression. We had a list of women in this age group, but Scott watched “Thoroughbreds” and loved Anya, and he went to London to meet her, and she became the first person that we had. I had also made Scott
aware of Bill Camp when we were doing “Godless.” Almost from the get-go, he knew that he wanted Bill for Mr. Shaibel. Mr. Shaibel was written into the first episode but was not in future episodes, and it developed so he does appear in other episodes, because of his amazing spirit. I shared this casting with my casting partner and associate Kate Sprance, and originally, the series was going to be shooting in and around New York and possibly Canada. When they decided to move to Berlin, I knew that we needed a third casting director; we would need somebody in London. And that’s when we brought in Olivia Scott-Webb. Talk a little more about casting the past and present of the
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Where do you like to look for new talent? We live in New York, where our theater community is so rich, and between Off-Broadway and so many of the theaters, and now there’s so much content on TV, I think we’re all looking at all of these shows to learn new talent from there. I’m reaching into all sorts of different worlds. There’s talent everywhere. It is really important for a casting director to be curious about humans and to be curious about whatever world it is you’re looking to create, and to reference films and photographs. I find casting so interesting and challenging and fulfilling.
Want more?
Read the full interview at backstage.com/magazine
07.29.21 BACKSTAGE
