Possibilities of Talent Casting

The Hungarian talent

The question of “What does a typical Hungarian person look like?” often recurs. While in most European countries there are typical characteristics of each nation - for example in the southern countries dark hair and eyes are common and in the north lighter shades occur more often - in Hungary people are very diverse. For photo shoots and film shoots it is a great advantage that it is not hard to find brown, blond and ginger-haired people, as well as spotting talents with Mediterranean or Scandinavian colouring.

Asians, Africans in Hungary

In Hungary the proportion of ethnic and cultural minorities is small compared to the rest of the population. Foreigners who come to the country are mainly students, seasonal workers or tourists and do not stay for more than a few months. On the other hand there is a dynamic growth in the number of Asians living in Hungary. According to a study made in 2015, their number doubled in the last ten years; it grew to 33 thousand, out of which 16 thousand were Chinese. The number of citizens of North African Arab states and Black-African countries has also grown, it has tripled in the last decade, nearly reaching 5 thousand.

Securing ethnic minority talent for film shoots for important or main roles is challenging as a result of their low numbers, although it is a lot easier to find them for extras.

Professionals or Real People

Regardless of the size of the country, Hungary is very lucky when it comes to casting, because of the many professional performers living in Hungary. This is due to the high quality of the education for performers and the fact that there is a big community of cultural enthusiasts. Theater and Film play important roles in the lives of Hungarians interested in culture. The number of theater productions is constantly increasing in the country. In 2012 there were more than 21 000 theater performances and the number of theater visitors reached 5 million. There are more than 100 professional and amateur theaters and companies here.

Considering the facts above, there is emphasis on the education of those interested in performance art, since quality education affects the output of the professional sector.

There is a century-long tradition of institutional acting education in Hungary. The most prestigious of these is The University of Theater and Film Arts, Budapest (Színház- és Filmművészeti Egyetem) which trains performing artists for the theater, film and television. They have many internationally successful alumni, who are directors, cinematographers and actors. Apart from The University of Theater and Film Arts there are many other opportunities for those interested in Performing Arts to gain a professional acting education, such as acting vocational schools and other theater institutes. These courses are more practical and the tutors are often professionally accomplished figures of the scene. After finishing this education the students will become suitable for performing.

Stuntmen

Hungarian stuntmen are globally especially renowned for their professionalism, enthusiasm and endurance. Therefore in the case of stuntmen-casting Hungary is one of the most ideal countries in Europe.

Apart from a few month-long courses in Hungary, there is now a two-year-long state-approved stuntman training organized by the Stunt Association Hungary. During this course the participants in the first six months get to know the basics of the profession. Then after a year and a half of practising and training they have to take a final exam. In the theoretical part of the course they are taught Health and Safety, the practical sides of Film Studies, Economy and Law. In the practical part they take part in choreographed fights, fencing, use of weapons and pyrotechnics sessions.

Lately the profession of stuntmen has developed into a true artistic activity. Hungarian stuntmen are winning prize after prize and achieving international acclaim. For example during the first four seasons of the American television series Game of Thrones they used a Hungarian stunt crew. For this they received the prize for the best film and television stuntmen; the SAG Prize, which is the American Actors’ Union’s Prize. Domonkos Párdányi (who took part in many super-productions such as Troy (as Brad Pitt’s double), Kingdom of Heaven, Munich and Die Hard 5) worked as the coordinator of the renowned crew. He was responsible for the realisation of the scenes in high quality and safety. In addition he has also been active as the double of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who played Jaime Lannister.

Background Fighters

Sometimes the characters fighting or fencing in the background are not stuntmen, but so-called background fighters, who form a transition between extras and stuntmen. They are often sportsmen, such as stuntmen. Their job is to imitate battles and fights in the background. The fighter extras require different education compared to stuntmen so that they can execute their tasks safely. Next to attention, concentration and movement, improvising in front of the camera is also important.

For example for the feature film called Hercules, which was filmed in Hungary in 2014, they were looking for especially strong and fit background talents. This was important because the shooting took place from dawn to late at night, during 15-hour workdays, as well as in extreme weather conditions (from 35-40 degrees Celsius to 0 or -2 degrees). They also organized a challenging four-week-long boot camp.

The training was led by one of the captains of the Hungarian Defence Force, as well as an English military educator. Multiple Hungarian stuntmen, background fighters and countless extras took part in the shooting of this film. During the one-month training the fighters learnt to move together in great numbers in battle formations with the big shields and spears of the Thracians. The film was made with the use of more than 100 extras, many Hungarians, who appeared in a variety of characters: as historic members of the public on the streets, Thracian fighters as well as the dead.

Background Actors

Hungary is an ideal choice if one needs a large number of trained extras. Previously extras only formed the crowd, while lately often they are chosen for speaking roles, therefore in Hungary the importance of extras-training courses has grown, as well as the courses preparing the attendees for castings. During these courses, extras can learn how to behave at castings, how they should cooperate with the film crew and how they should move in front of the camera, as well as learning film production expressions and the culture of behavior of a film shoot.

Hungarian models

Hungary is not only proud of its talented actors and extras, but also of their world-famous models. In contrast with the performers, for models it is not the institutes and courses that have a dominant role in their success, but their important agencies.

In this country there are rather more photo and advertising models than catwalk models. There are many talented, beauty, advertising and catalogue models, although there are rather few who are in the high-fashion category. Still, in the last few years there has been a larger number of Hungarian models representing themselves in the international fashion scene, such as Enikő Mihalik, Barbara Palvin, Vanessa Axente and Bertold Zahorán.

Therefore Hungarian talents are exceptional regarding both their appearances and their skills. Their performances are high-quality, and they can fulfil their roles in any type of production. The goal of Progressive Talents is to offer the best talents to the productions, whether that is an actor, a stunt performer, or an extra.