Filmmakers seek “Treasure” extras in casting call

By Katie Brown, Journal staff | Sunday, April 08, 2007

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RAPID CITY -- Rapid City residents might see a few familiar faces in an upcoming movie starring Nicolas Cage.

A casting call was held Saturday at the Radisson hotel in Rapid City for extras in “National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” which is scheduled to be released in December.

Maryellen Aviano, casting coordinator for the film, said turnout at the casting call was good. People interested in being an extra were asked to show up at the call between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and by 1:30 p.m., Aviano said about 300 people had come.

She said she is looking for between 600 and 700 people to fill nonspeaking roles such as tourists, gift shop employees, park rangers and FBI agents for scenes that will be filmed later this month at Mount Rushmore.

“We wanted to invite all Rapid City residents to be a part of the movie and have the experience of film-making,” Aviano said.

Aviano, who has done casting on more than 30 major films, including “Terminator 2”, the “Princess Diaries” and its sequel and the “Lethal Weapon” movies, said she is honest with people about the inconvenience of being an extra.

“There’s a lot of patience involved,” she said.

She said extras will find themselves waiting around a lot in between shots, but also, they get the experience of seeing a movie in the works.

“I try to talk people out of it first to see if they still want to do it,” Aviano said. “It’s a slow, tedious process that all comes together in the end.”

The movie is the sequel to the 2004 movie “National Treasure,” which also starred Cage. Filmmakers are currently shooting scenes for the film in Washington, D.C.

The premise for the movie has Cage retuning as treasure hunter Ben Gates. Armed with 18 missing pages of John Wilkes Booth’s diary, Gates tries to uncover the truth behind the 1865 assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Jerry Bruckheimer is producing the movie, and Jon Turteltaub is directing it.

Other actors in the film will include Diane Kruger, Jon Voight and Harvey Keitel.

Extras are paid $75 a day and work about a 10-hour shift, with meals provided.

Aviano said much of that time is spent waiting around.

“We want them to know we’re not just having them sit around to be mean,” she said. “That’s just the way movies are made.”

LaDreeva Davis, 30, of Rapid City said she came to the casting call because she loves movies and is a fan of Cage.

She said her sister text-messaged her at 2 a.m. one day to tell her about the casting call.

“I’m so excited,” Davis said. “I knew right away I wanted to do it.”

She said she has never gone to a casting call before Saturday.

“I’m dipping into a lot of new things in my life, and this is one of them,” she said.

Aviano said film makers are also looking for Rapid City area residents who dress up as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt and have their own costumes.

Those interested are asked to e-mail sdtreasurecasting@gmail.com.

Contact Katie Brown at 394-8318 or katie.brown@rapidcityjournal.com