{"id":162648,"date":"2025-12-01T16:53:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T16:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/162648\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T16:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T16:53:08","slug":"f1-the-smashing-machine-casting-non-actors-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/162648\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018F1,\u2019 \u2018The Smashing Machine\u2019: Casting Non-Actors, Athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFor the first time in the ceremony\u2019s 98-year history, casting<\/a> directors will be getting their close-up at the Academy Awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOur work is just as important as any other head of department, and I\u2019m so thrilled that there\u2019s now a conversation about what casting actually is,\u201d says Lucy Bevan, whose long list of credits includes the recent Brad Pitt-led F1: The Movie<\/a> blockbuster.<\/p>\n

\n\tCasting has always been an integral part of filmmaking. However, the intricate process of putting together an ensemble to fit a director\u2019s creative vision has operated in a kind of black box, shielded from public input or knowledge. Yet like any art form, casting is far from an exact science and involves a little bit of alchemy.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re always thinking about what an actor could play,\u201d Bevan explains. \u201cYou may come and audition for a role that you\u2019re not right for, but we\u2019ll think about you for something else. That happens all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe job requires a surprisingly diverse skill set. \u201cI always say I\u2019m a detective, a director, a social worker, a psychologist, a sociologist and an anthropologist,\u201d says Jennifer Venditti, who, on top of casting Yorgos Lanthimos\u2019 Bugonia, reteamed with the Safdies for their respective Oscar contenders \u2014 Benny\u2019s The Smashing Machine<\/a> and Josh\u2019s Marty Supreme<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe uptick in sports films this year, which saw athletes and other non-actors go toe-to-toe with established thespians, further underscores the talents of casting directors. As is the case with representing any real-life subject, casting teams have to become de facto experts in a particular sport very quickly. For Venditti, that entails talking to numerous consultants and looking at as many reference materials \u2014 usually old photos, news clippings and documentaries \u2014 from that bygone era as possible.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo lend further credibility and authenticity to their films, creative teams often enlist real-life professionals from a sport to fill out the supporting and background cast. Given that the high-octane action sequences in F1 were adapted from real races, numerous drivers, including producer Lewis Hamilton, and their personnel appear as themselves. Regardless of their level of experience, \u201cnot one actor ever fluffed a line,\u201d Bevan recalls. \u201cThey were all completely ready when they had their moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tOleksandr Usyk (far right) was cast in a supporting role opposite Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEric Zachanowich\/Real American Hero LLC\/A24<\/p>\n

\n\tFor The Smashing Machine, Venditti worked with her stunt team to find professionals who had the requisite physicality and who could fight \u201cin a way that they\u2019re not going to hurt anyone\u201d\u2014 all while acting as naturally as possible, she says. Her research led her to cast Ryan Bader as Mark Kerr\u2019s (Dwayne Johnson) best friend and rival, Mark Coleman; Bas Rutten as himself; and Oleksandr Usyk as Igor Vovchanchyn.<\/p>\n

\n\tAthletes are generally happy to appear in films that expose their sport to a wider audience, Venditti notes. In the case of Smashing Machine, \u201cThese guys gave up so much \u2014 their health, their time \u2014 and they weren\u2019t celebrated. So I think a lot of people within that world were so excited about this project to honor these guys that came before them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn Marty Supreme, Venditti faced an even taller order, filling the film\u2019s 150-something other roles. Blending Hollywood stars with first-time actors, she deployed street scouts across New York City\u2019s five boroughs to find unforgettable faces that could believably inhabit the 1950s. Her sweet spot, as both a casting director and filmmaker herself, has always been blurring the line between fiction and nonfiction to find \u201ca raw texture of humanity\u201d in each of her productions.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe reason why I love this job is because I am obsessed with humanity. With each project, I get to learn more about a world and about people that maybe I wouldn\u2019t meet in my daily life,\u201d says Venditti. \u201cIt expands my compassion and empathy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis story first appeared in a November stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time in the ceremony\u2019s 98-year history, casting directors will be getting their close-up at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1096,97654,16601,146,97655,85,46,43792,3220,28998,7792],"class_list":["post-162648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-awards","tag-awards-in-focus-creative-crafts","tag-casting","tag-entertainment","tag-f1-the-movie","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-marty-supreme","tag-oscars","tag-oscars-2026","tag-the-smashing-machine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}