Shelter, a horror film starring Julianne Moore shooting in Pittsburgh in March, put out a casting call for West Virginia inbreds. More or less.
Local casting Donna Belajac agent tries hard to explain:
“Some of these ‘holler’ people — because they are insular and clannish, and they don’t leave their area — there is literally inbreeding, and the people there often have a different kind of look. That’s what we’re trying to get.”
…The announcement — which was sent out in a news release and posted on the casting company’s Web site — asked for people with the following attributes:
“Extraordinarily tall or short. Unusual body shapes, even physical abnormalities as long as there is normal mobility. Unusual facial features, especially eyes.”
The announcement requests “a 9-12-year-old Caucasian girl with an other-worldly look to her.”
“Could be an albino or something along those lines — she’s someone who is visually different and therefore has a closer contact to the gods and to magic. ‘Regular-looking’ children should not attend this open call.'”
Asked if she felt the characterization might be offensive to West Virginians, Belajac said: “We tried to word it in a way that’s not offensive. I hope it’s not an offensive thing. It’s not meant to be a generalization about everyone in West Virginia. That’s why we put that it’s in a ‘holler’ in the mountains.”
Oh, just holler lookin’ people. No problem then.
