Casting!
Who is Stephen?
- What he wants: To live in peace with his very routinized, normal and precise life.
- How he tries to get it: Sends the Salesman away from his house, impolitely. Continues to read and do his normal things, trying his best to ignore the noises.
- Facts about him:
- Into theoretical writing about evolution and any arguments against spiritual presence in the world
- Wears khakis and buttoned shirt, and a crew neck jumper
- Likes neat sandwiches
- Has a family but we are not told who exactly they are (therefore not necessarily immediate)
- Doesn’t like to be confronted with spiritual things because it is unfamiliar territory that he has never been encouraged to explore (turns the Salesman away).
- Relationship to Salesman: He is victimised by the Salesman
- Changes: At the beginning he is very narrow-minded, impolite and uninterested in the Salesman and what he is offering. Throughout the story he becomes very unnerved as he has no choice but to question his beliefs and deal with unexplained happenings. At the end he is overcome with fear, and experiences unfamiliar emotions. The Salesman has the last laugh.
- The audience are not going to know what Stephen sees that finally tips him over the edge into a meltdown, so this will be a moment where we are unsure whether what is happening is real or he is just paranoid.
- Mannerisms/Physicality: He is always upright, appears to be self-assured and keeps to himself. Everything he does it quite static and routine-oriented. He walks with purpose even around his own home, so when things start going wrong and it's out of his control, he struggles.
- Why we have chosen Matt Smith: He is tall, dark haired and has a slightly mysterious look about him that can be molded into the Stephen we are searching for. He will look neat in the costumes we have in mind, and his natural mannerisms and tone of voice fit in well with the character briefs.
Who is the Salesman?
- What he wants: To make money out of an innocent man by scaring him to death with his demon pals. He wants to create his own following/troupe, and through preying on the spiritually weak, he can manipulate and find people that will accept everything he says.
- How he tries to get it: By sending his demonic beings into Stephen’s house to scare him into buying his potions etc. This would ultimately connect the two of them, and put Stephen into an almost binding position.
- What happens: This backfires because the demons scare Stephen so much that he stops functioning as a rational human being. However at the same time, even though he hasn’t made money by this stage, he knows that he’s found someone who will ‘need’ him.
- Facts about him:
- Old
- Big, crazy eyes
- Somewhat extravagantly dressed
- Odd
- Spiritual and manipulative
- Relationship to Stephen: He is an intrusive salesman that preys on weaker people for money and to try and get a following.
- Changes: At the beginning he seems somewhat genuine about wanting to help Stephen, albeit in an unusual and forceful way. When Stephen turns him away, we see that the Salesman has darker intentions and will be back. By the end we understand that his main goal is to make some money, but knowingly through making money he can further exploit people and get them relying on him.
- Mannerisms/Physicality: The characters that spring to mind when I envision this character, are The Grinch, Willy Wonka, blended with a spiritual enthusiast/preacher (in terms of quirkiness and mannerisms.)
- Why we have chosen Todd Waters: Todd is fresh, quirky, fabulous and also has that ability to appear mysterious and different. The type of character that the Salesman is in this film, is an unusual and somewhat dark person, and we feel Todd will be able to pull off that unique and slightly wacky character in his own personal way.