Posted on: Saturday, August 31, 2002

'Helldorado' film issues casting call

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

So you want a role in "Helldorado," the Universal Pictures action adventure starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson that starts production in Hawai'i in mid-September?

The casting call for male and female actors who look "indigenous of the rain forest and the Amazon jungle" will be Sept. 9. at the Hawai'i Film Studios, 510 18th Ave., on the slopes of Diamond Head.

A 9 a.m. slot is reserved for Screen Actors Guild members only. The rest of the audition times are 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Adult actors must appear in person; there will be no telephone appointments or queries, said casting director Bill Dance, of Bill Dance Casting, based in Los Angeles.

"At the time of the auditions, there will be discussion of pay and other matters," said Dance, who also will work with a local casting official.

There also is a call for child and teenage actors, ages 4 through 17, but no auditions. Photos and pertinent personal data should be dropped off between 6 and 7 p.m. Sept. 9.

The multimillion-dollar feature starring The Rock, a former Hawai'i resident and a wrestling superstar turned movie hero, is set in the rain forests and gold mines of Brazil. Extras are sought to play villagers and miners, so if you look Polynesian, Indian and Portuguese, your chances of getting a role are better than if you look like a blond surfer dude.

The plot — part espionage, part Indiana Jones — is about a bounty hunter traveling to the jungles of South America to settle a debt. When he discovers that the "bad guy" is all right after all, they team up to search for hidden treasures in Helldorado but are menaced by the evil Bloomocks (played by Christopher Walken).

Peter Berg, former co-star of "Chicago Hope," is directing the screenplay by R.J. Stewart and James Vanderbilt. Trade magazines report that actor Seann William Scott also is in negotiations to appear.

The Hawai'i filming is expected to continue through the end of October, with release set for sometime in 2003.

"Helldorado" is one of a growing list of features and TV productions planning to shoot in Hawai'i in the next few months.

"Baywatch" is poised to start on a Fox-TV pilot, anticipating a series spinoff; The Rock also has a date to star in a Hawai'i-based Sony-Columbia Pictures feature, "Kamehameha"; and "The Big Bounce," with Morgan Freeman and Owen Wilson, is a Shangri-La Entertainment flick eager to film here, too.