Jewish Community Partners

Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment is hosting open casting calls for the role of EDGARDO in the film, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. Online video submissions are also accepted (see below). The production is casting a boy age 6-9, and the search is on across Europe and North America. 

Amblin Entertainment issued this statement on the global casting search: 

“So far, incredibly talented boys have auditioned. As we continue the process of finding Edgardo, we are holding additional open calls to make sure we’re seeing every possible candidate for the role. We look forward to coming to various cities and can’t wait to see who we find.”

“EDGARDO” – BOY, age 6-9. Unique and very challenging part for a truly special, curious and intelligent boy with a mischievous streak who appears to be Jewish and Italian. The story deals with the complexity of an extremely intelligent and gifted child’s situation – his desire to return to his family & the faith of his ancestors, pitted against his ability to learn the Catechism and engage with the Pope on a level far beyond his years, and the filmmakers are not looking for any kind of Italian accent. No prior acting experience necessary.

The Mortara case was an Italian cause célèbre that captured the attention of much of Europe and North America in the 1850s and 1860s. It concerned the Papal States’ seizure from a Jewish family in Bologna of one of their children, six-year-old Edgardo Mortara, on the basis of a former servant’s testimony that she had administered emergency baptism to the boy when he fell sick as an infant. Mortara grew up as a Catholic under the protection of Pope Pius IX—who refused his parents’ desperate pleas for his return—and eventually became a priest. The domestic and international outrage against the pontifical state’s actions may have contributed to its downfall amid the unification of Italy.

Steven Spielberg is helming the film as director, working from a script by Tony Cushner, the screen writer of Spielberg’s films Lincoln and Munich, as well as the award-winning play Angels in America. The cast includes Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) and Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Force Awakens). The film is inspired by and based upon David I. Kertzer’s historical novel of the same name. 

The casting agency is conducting open auditions in major U.S. markets, but auditions can also be submitted online. 

New York

Sunday, January 29th / 10am – 5pm

One on One Studios

34 W 27th St, 11th Floor, NYC 10001

Los Angeles

Sunday January 29th / 10am-5pm

American Jewish University Colen Conference Hall

15600 Mulholland Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90077 

Parking in Lot 3  

Toronto

Saturday, February 4th / 9am – 1pm

JP Studios

400 Eastern Avenue, Suite 201A

Miami

Sunday, February 5th / 10am – 5pm

Dave & Mary Alper Jewish Community Center 

11155 SW 112 Ave. Miami, FL 33176

 

Vancouver

Sunday, February 5th / 10am – 4pm

Shoreline Studios
1425 Charles St Vancouver, BC V5L 2S7

 

Chicago

Sunday, February 12 / 10am – 5pm

Bernard Weinger Jewish Community Center
300 Revere Dr, Northbrook, IL 60062