CHARACTERS
We
made
sure to cast a very diverse and specific range of actors who don’t
look like actors in the least, but could carry themselves and wear
on their faces the years of hardship it took to make these people
who they truly are. This is a story about these people, and they
are not just made up for the sake of story. In fact, they make the
story. I feel these characters will bring something new and original
to the world, and there hasn’t been a time in my short lifetime
where their struggle has been more relevant than now. Though casting
was a big challenge that lasted for over a year (with hundreds of
people seen and/or considered for each role), it is was a challenge
well identified and was a key point in the pre-production of this
film. We couldn't have been happier with our final cast. Without
these characters, this film could not exist.
ALEX
(Aldous Davidson)
20 year old college student and aspiring actor | half asian and
half jewish american who is not at all in touch with his heritage
| accidentally hired at the mailroom under the false assumption
that he is chinese | upper middle class | only working part-time
for summer (only takes job because economy is bad and wants his
days free for potential acting gigs) | wants to save up money for
headshots | young/smiling/nervous | not very personable as much
as other actor types | comes to work as a lower-rate replacement
of someone who used to work at the mailroom
MARC
/ HOMICIDAL MANIAC
(Tim O'Malley)
50 years old | caucasian (only non-minority in the mailroom) | working
class | holds 2 full-time jobs | grizzled/tired/worn
LOUIS
(Al Thompson)
30 years old | the only african american at the job | mockingly
makes fun of wing, but sincerely loves wing’s crazy ways |
funny guy, but also cynical | doesn’t like this new kid coming
into replace his old buddy, Frank, who got laid off earlier in the
year
OSCAR
(Paul Sum)
55 years old | first-generation chinese | the manager/link to the
upper bosses | hires alex because he mistakenly assumes that alex
is chinese | the only one who initially makes an effort to really
connect with alex
WING
(Jackson Ning)
late-60s (the oldest guy at the job) | first-generation chinese
| only at the mailroom who doesn’t also work a day job (because
of his age) | very crazy, but endearing in his weirdness
BRIAN
(Jarett Gonzalez)
late 20s | hispanic | is into hip-hop culture | though younger in
age than the rest of the workers, he does not connect with Alex
in the least
YAO
(Nathaniel Geng)
mid 40s | first-generation chinese | speaks exclusively in mandarin
| his only friend is chris chan, who speaks to him in mandarin |
gets laid off due to slow economy and his age
CHRIS
CHAN
(Hiram Chan)
late 20s | first-generation chinese | yao’s only friend |
speaks primarily in mandarin | very into modern chinese pop culture
MELANIE
(Allyn Rachel)
18 year old caucasian girl | very rich and privileged | ex-girlfriend
of alex | doesn’t understand the plight of the workers at
alex’s job
DOUG
(Russ Russo)
late 20s to early 30s | dave is a family friend of melanie’s
| privileged, fickle young guy who still has his parents capital
to start up a production company | does whatever he wants because
of his financial backing | outsiders see him as ambitious, but he
really doesn't have to struggle much to aspire to do whatever he
wants
CASEY
(Matthew Sacullo)
late 20s | a "hot" young commercial director recruited
by doug to direct spec commercials for doug's production company
| bumbling and indecisive | creatively vapid
TATE
(Geoff Golia)
20s | a star makeup artist recruited by doug to work on spec commercials
| very hip | takes his work very seriously as art, even when his
end product sucks
DOUG'S
CREW
(Mike
Goetz, Matt Bryant, Joel Edelstein, Nick Bentgen, Sam Goetz, James
Gannon, Paul Yee)
20s | unhappy underpaid crew who take on doug's projects due to
lack of other financial opportunities
MELANIE'S
MOM (Yvonne Cornell)
late 40 s | rich trophy wife | likes Alex and misses his presence
in her daughter's life
