Cast List

Casting for 'Looking for Olivia'

Phoebe

Our aim when directing and producing the opening to our psychological thriller, was to find a teenage girl who looked older, like a mother would. She is meant to appear as this perfect mother, paying close attention to her relationship with Olivia.

We had a decision between two girls to play the part of Phoebe, the unpredictable mother, with a sense of ambiguity about her.

Bella Thompson - our first auditionee was Bella, we suggested her due to her knowledge about acting and drama. Bella also offered confidence when it came to acting and was keen to be apart of the opening. The only problem was her appearance, being fair haired and a pale complexion she displays innocence and youth. Also her physique doesn't match the one of a mother so we didn't give her the role.

Phoebe Symington- We liked phoebe because of her previous experience in both media and drama, this was an attractive quality because she had confidence when acting, which was necessary in the major role in our opening. Phoebe also looked older than Bella, more mature and capable of damage. So we chose Phoebe because she fit both the categories better than Bella did.

Ben

For the male protagonist, the father of Olivia we were looking for a weaker character. They had to look manly and old enough o have been married and had children but ultimately the character of Ben had to be a weaker and less significant figure in comparison to the mother, so that there was a sense of the mother holding the control.

Ben Gage -our first auditionee and he impressed us with his acting skills despite little experience in the past. It was an advantage, in act, that he was shy because his character is supposed to slightly shadow the mother's relationship with Olivia. Ben also looked older than the other boys we auditioned, but although he had the physique of a man, there was something endearing and kind about his face so we decided he was the right guy in comparison with the other boys.    

Luke Potts - Luke also had the physique we were looking for but somewhat lacked the acting skills we were looking for, his character seemed slightly too dominant over Phoebe's therefore we decided to go with Ben. Also Luke was at a lower availability than Ben for filming time.