On Hiring "Supermodels" for your Indie Film

Or another thing from 2016 I'm still upset about.

In May, while promoting his film Sing Street, John Carney criticized Keira Knightly, one of the leads of his film Begin Again.

What made headlines was his issue with the size of her entourage; he vowed never to work with supermodels again.

Which was an odd thing to say, because a casual glance at IMDB reveals that in the 10 years prior to working with Carney, Knightly worked steadily in the movie biz. A slightly deeper dive shows she was nominated for an Oscar for Pride & Prejudice, and for BAFTAs for both Pride & Prejudice and Atonement. Her day job is as an Actor¹, not a Supermodel.

But this is a digression. The meat of Carney's issue with Knightly was her lack of song-writing skills. He lamented the fact he couldn't collaborate with her during production.

Ummm Dude. How is it her fault you hired someone who didn't have the skills you wanted?

I have a theory.

The people holding the purse-strings had a list² of acceptable actors and actresses for the lead roles. If they're not on the list, you don't get the money, they may have said.

Which, if true, is a shame.

Not simply because the director was stifled in his options, unable to choose from a talent pool possessing the skills he desired,

But because such a list is an impediment to film diversity.

What if Knightly's role had been played by Sheryl Crow or Jewel or Ann Wilson (from the band Heart)³? By an Asian? By a man⁴?

The limitations of a mandated list meant that none of these options were available to Carney. This may have resulted in him choosing the wrong person for the role.

If my theory is correct⁵.

Still, it's hard to believe Carney didn't know Knightly's skill level prior to the start of filming. (I understand she learned to play the guitar specifically for the role.) For whatever reason, he didn't hire an actual guitar playing singer-songwriter for the role of a guitar playing singer-songwriter. Blaming her for his hiring decision was disingenuous at best.

1. or Actress, if you prefer.

2. Note that the ubiquity of Jennifer Lawrence is due to studio/purse-string holder short lists. Such lists should always include, at a minimum, Lupita Nyong'o, Gina Rodriguez, and Constance Wu. I doubt they do, but they should.

3. I have no idea if any of these women can act. But they are all guitar playing singer-songwriters, which seems to been the most important attribute to Carney for Begin Again.

4. Even if he was stuck on having a beautiful young woman, without a mandated short list, he could've easily held auditions in Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago and found several guitar playing singer-songwriters for the role.

5. Another theory is that the studio insisted she be in the role, a la Keanu Reeves in Bram Stoker's Dracula (allegedly the studio required Reeves to be in the film over the director's objections). However, given the size of the film, I doubt this is the case. Keep in mind I know nothing about the Business.