Adaptation of 'GOSSIP GIRL' Series to Indonesia, Nia Dinata Reveals the Difficulty of the Casting Process: Some Are Pretentious - Acting Like Stars!

Kapanlagi.com - Nia Dinata serves as the showrunner in the production of the Indonesian version of the GOSSIP GIRL series, which will be aired on an over the top platform starting from February 14, 2020. It is said that there are several challenges, one of which is the difficulty of finding suitable actors, especially for the two main characters, Serena and Blair.

The difficulty in finding the characters is because the girls who participate in the casting come with excessive makeup. As a result, the desired aura for the characters cannot be reflected.

"It's difficult to find girls who can be like sunshine, light up the room like Serena. And find an ice queen like Blair, but we still love her no matter what. Moreover, nowadays when they come for casting, they already wear heavy makeup. They already know they will be in GOSSIP GIRL, so they wear bling-bling. It's frustrating to see, they don't look like their original characters," said Nia Dinata when met at CGV Cinema Grand Indonesia, Central Jakarta, on Thursday (6/2/2020).

1. Feeling Like a Star

When casting for female characters, it becomes a problem if they wear heavy makeup. It's different when casting male characters. Nia Dinata admits that many people feel famous even before accomplishing anything, which gives the impression of underestimating others.

"It's also difficult to find the right male actors. Unfortunately, in Indonesia, we don't have a basic understanding of acting and how to come to a casting. Usually, they are celebrities from Instagram or have millions of followers, so they come as if they want to audition for commercials. It's different, right? As a mother, I complain," said the mother of two.

Nia continued, "They are so entitled. They come and say, 'Oh, I'm like GOSSIP GIRL, right?'. But they haven't even read the script. Some say, 'I'm such a great actor. Is it a series? What is it?'. Either they are so entitled or they just want to be something important, but their desire to learn is minimal," she expressed.

2. Finding the Right One

© KapanLagi.com/Budy Santoso

Luckily, after going through a quite long process, Nia Dinata managed to find the names that were finally chosen with gratitude. There is Amanda Rawles as Serena, Jihane Almira as Blair, Baskara Mahendra as Danny, Jerome Kurnia as Chicco, Arya Vasco as Nathaniel, Tatyana Akman as Vanessa, and newcomer Rayssa Dynta as Jenny.

"We didn't have casting today and shooting next month, no. The casting process is indeed the longest and what we got here are the ones who have been filtered. Moreover, we found Amanda Rawles at the very end," said Nia.

(kpl/abs/gen)