Look like a cop? Come audition for 'Frozen Ground'

Posted by whalewatching

Posted: September 15, 2011 - 3:32 pm

Anyone interested in appearing in the film can email an acting resume and headshot to frozengroundcasting@gmail.com, the filmmakers said. Write “actress” or “actor” in the subject line, or “extra” if you don't want to audition for a speaking role.

Auditions began this week in Anchorage for the serial killer thriller “The Frozen Ground,” with producers expecting to hire as many as 45 Alaska actors for speaking roles.

The tale, starring Nicolas Cage and John Cusack, is based on the real-life, 1983 capture of “butcher baker” Robert Hansen. If you look like a cop, in other words, you may be in luck.

“We’re going to reach out to all state troopers and members of the police department who are interested in acting and extras roles,” said Deborah Schildt, the Alaska casting director for the film. Schildt began auditioning actors Wednesday with casting expected to continue until filming begins in mid-October.

In addition to speaking roles, the filmmakers say they plan to hire another 400 to 600 extras – jobs that do not require an audition.

Schildt also worked on casting of “Everybody Loves Whales,” the Alaska-based Drew Barrymore film that is expected hit theaters early next year. Actors who tried out for that film and veterans of other Alaska film projects are now arriving at the production’s temporary offices above the Daily News for the first wave of auditions.

“On ‘Whales,’ we found that some of our cast were actors and actresses and some of our cast were first timers,” said Schildt, who is a project manager for a NANA-owned film production services company called Piksik.

Anyone interested in appearing in the new movie can email an acting resume and headshot to frozengroundcasting@gmail.com, the filmmakers said. Write “actress” or “actor” in the subject line -- or write “extra” if you don't want to audition for a speaking role.

Hansen, played by Cusack in the movie, is believed to have killed up to 21 women in the 1970s and '80s and is now serving life at the Spring Creek prison in Seward

Cage plays a state trooper investigating the case. Deadline.com reported this week that "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens will appear as the teenage victim who escapes from Hansen and leads police to the killer.

-- Kyle Hopkins