Danny Jarabek
All the Light We Cannot See directed by Shawn Levy is a four-episode Netflix mini-series adapted from the novel by Anthony Doerr. The story follows two teenagers, a blind French girl, and a German soldier who cross paths as they attempt to survive the devastation of World War II. From the start of the project, the series was set to be a unique casting challenge with Levy determined to cast a blind or low-vision actress in the leading role of Marie-Laure, the first casting decision of its kind. At the helm of the global search were casting directors Emily Brockmann and Lucy Bevan who discuss their excitement regarding the opportunity to be a part of the historic process.
In our conversation, Brockmann and Bevan discuss their unconventional approach to locating potential performers, and the relationship that developed with their casting choice in Aria Mia Loberti. The pair also detail the importance of the supporting cast to provide experience and support for the younger actors in the series to learn from.
Read our full conversation with All the Light We Cannot See casting directors Emily Brockmann and Lucy Bevan below.
Hi, this is Danny Jarabek here with Awards Radar, and I’m delighted to have Emily Brockmann and Lucy Bevan, casting directors for the Netflix limited series All the Light We Cannot See. Emily and Lucy, thank you so much for joining me today. I am absolutely over the moon to have you on because, like I was telling you just before, I think casting is so critical to this show in particular if not all shows, but with this show, it has a fascinating story behind it, and I can’t wait to unpack that with you both. So, how are you both? Thank you for joining me.
Lucy: It’s a pleasure, and we’re thrilled to be here. Thank you for having us.
Of course. So, All the Light We Cannot See is adapted from a source novel. I’m curious to hear from both of you what your starting point with this project was and if you were familiar with the source material or if this was something that you dug into throughout the beginning stages of your casting process.
Lucy: Well, it’s our first time working with Shawn. And we spoke to Shawn and Dan, and he told us about it. I hadn’t read the book. But the moment he told us that the central character was blind, we immediately wanted to be involved, partly to work with Shawn because he’s brilliant, but secondly, for us to work on a project with a blind central character was something hugely appealing because we’d never done that before. There’s never been a blind actor in a main part before on television. So, that was a huge challenge. We knew it would be challenging, but we were very drawn to that.
Emily: Yeah.
And, Emily, for you, what was the starting point like?
Emily: My mom is a massive fan of the book, so that was my way in. When I mentioned to her that this had come up, she was like, “You must. You must do it.” She was obsessed with it. I then quickly read the book having not read it and just thought the story was really beautiful. Again, as Lucy says, we were incredibly attracted to the challenge, I guess, of casting Marie-Laure as someone who was authentically blind or low vision. I always really enjoy the interesting, sort of unusual searches where you get to deep dive into a community that you don’t otherwise know. So, that was appealing.
As you both alluded to, Shawn Levy with the project made it a point to want to cast with someone who is authentically blind or low vision. What was that process? I’m sure casting in that community is not something that you can go through the normal process with. How did you start to unravel that, and where did it begin, and where did it take you?
Lucy: So, it took us all over the world. What we did was we started by targeting blind charities and support groups. We did what we call an open call or search globally. Then we specifically targeted those support groups and charities because we wanted to make sure that we found people who were blind, who wanted to audition, and who might not otherwise have found our open call through the normal channels of social media. So, we were very targeted to the blind community.
Emily: Yeah. The only other thing I was going to say was we were very lucky because I think there was a positive response from the community and people that we spoke to, both in terms of the community groups and charities. We learned so much. It was an exciting process. For example, partial sight and blindness are most common in older people. So, our search had to be targeted to try and target as many young people as possible, which is why things like schools and community groups specifically for the blind were beneficial. We tailored our search as we went, as we found out new information about what we were looking for and the parameters. It was it was easier to focus our search. But we were really lucky. People were really helpful and enthusiastic. And I think, as Lucy says, because this, to our knowledge, is the first time that a mainstream film or TV series has cast an actor who is blind in their leading roles, we were really lucky that everyone was so encouraging.
You mentioned age, and that’s something that is also, of course, a critical component of the series as well, taking place over a significant amount of time and having to cast two sides and different ages of the central protagonist. So, how did you go about that process, seamlessly integrating not only the challenges of finding people within this blind community as you alluded to but finding also the right fit over different age gaps as well.
Lucy: We found we looked for Nell first. We found Nell first. She’s from a very, very, very small town in Wales, deepest rural Wales. Her father is also blind, so she’s grown up in that family. Her mum is sighted. She was an absolute standout. Her imagination. She’s completely blind. Her imagination is extraordinary. We had a wonderful time getting to know her and putting her through the process. So, we found her first, and then we found Aria. As I’m sure you may know, Aria’s former teacher had seen our open call. What do you call it, Emily? Like, our open call like, leaflet thing.
Emily: Poster, I guess. I can’t remember. Casting call.
Lucy: Our casting call. Her old teacher had seen it and had sent it to Aria, and Aria knew the book. So, yeah, we found Nell first, and then we found Aria, but it was global. There were a lot of submissions from South America, for some reason. There were submissions from all over the world. So, we saw and auditioned a lot of blind people and then also people who were pretending to be blind, which was challenging in itself.
And in terms of discovery, as casting directors, was it exciting, just the kind of proposition of finding first-time actors, people who may have never really auditioned for this kind of work or even put themselves in this place before?
Lucy: I mean, I think maybe I can speak on behalf of all casting directors, I don’t know. But I think for us, certainly, finding somebody who’s never done it before is a huge, huge thrill. It’s something that we love doing, and helping, through the auditioning process, [to] give that young person, who we see potential in, the confidence to grow and to be able to do it. It’s about recognizing the potential and then helping that young person, be it blind or sighted, to realize their potential through the casting process. That’s something that we find very rewarding.
Emily, for you, was there any excitement about the sense of discovery and particularly what you saw in Nell and Aria immediately?
Emily: For sure. I mean, I think casting directors generally are quite loathed to use the word or claim ownership over “discovering” someone because it gives us probably sometimes too much credit. And I think that when you’re casting actors, they are brilliant in their own right. In this particular case, though, I think you probably are right. I guess the word “discovery” applies more perhaps than it does otherwise because I don’t think Nell or Aria would have otherwise had the same opportunities that other people get regarding acting. So, I think that it felt really exciting and incredibly gratifying. We’re just so proud of them. They did so incredibly well. They were both very, very bright, which I think gave us the sense that they would do really well and thrive in this new experience. As Lucy said, we spent a lot of time with them throughout the audition process, so we really got to know them and had complete faith that they would be able to do a brilliant job, which they obviously did. So, we were really thrilled about that.
They truly did. Kind of turning a corner into another part of your casting process, in terms of casting for a period piece type of environment and type of atmosphere for a show, what are the variables? What are the factors, maybe personality or physical, that you’re looking for, especially in casting veteran actors alongside these first-time actors? What did you look for in that process with coming across Mark Ruffalo and that additional support to these first-time actors that are at the center of the work.
Lucy: Well, that’s really well put because when you’re casting young actors who don’t have experience, you want to make sure you’ve got very experienced actors around them. Lars Eisinger is one of Germany’s best theater actors. He’s amazing. And Louis Hoffman, who we cast as Werner, is extraordinary. We wanted them to be supported by really experienced, really talented actors so that they could learn from them. And, obviously, Hugh Laurie and Mark Ruffalo as well. That’s very important when you’re casting young people in big parts. You want to make sure they’re as well supported by veterans as possible.
Is there anything that you investigated in terms of the chemistry between potential candidates for those veteran actors and your candidates for the first-time actors in the central role of Marie-Laure?
Emily: It’s a good question. We did because we were casting a lot of this during COVID. Also, Louis is in Germany, living in Germany at the time, and Aria was in the US. It actually worked really well, surprisingly. We did a chemistry read over Zoom, which sounds like it was a recipe for disaster but actually went incredibly well. And you could tell immediately they had a real respect for each other. It was just really exciting to see. We did a chemistry read with Louis and with Aria to make sure that it worked. And they were brilliant together.
Well, in terms of the two of you, I know you have collaborated in the past on other projects as well. What is that collaboration process like for you? Is there any kind of different perspectives or sensibilities that each of you bring to or see in different components of the casting process?
Lucy: Emily challenges me on all my old thoughts.
Emily: I wouldn’t say that. Lucy and I have been working together—
Lucy: Not all thoughts, old thoughts.
Emily: We’ve been working together for a really long time, so I think that there is definitely a shorthand, which makes it much easier.
Lucy: But it is good to be challenged, particularly in a casting process of this scale and this magnitude on such beloved source material. You need to be as rigorous as you can be. For us, it feels like a massive responsibility. For us, the casting is the most important aspect of any show, in the same way that for every head of department, for them it’s the most important aspect. For us, we feel incredibly strongly that we want to honor the source material, honor Shawn’s vision for it, so you have to be rigorous. I think we both help each other as a team. We’re very rigorous in the process. We make sure no stone is left unturned. We dig deep. And in this instance, I think it really paid off.
Emily: Yeah.
Just one final question for you both. I know you mentioned that you really developed a relationship with these actors over the beginning stages, before production of the series. Is there any facilitation that you engage with once the show goes into production because you have developed that relationship before any cameras are turned on?
Lucy: I think it’s really through the auditioning process, isn’t it? There were lots of recalls. Going back to the rigorous process, we do lots of recalls. Then, once the actor’s got the part, we sort of hand them over to Shawn. But in the case of Nell, we had a wonderful support. We wanted her to have an acting support coach because she was so little. So, a wonderful guy called Nick Ashton who worked with us on Matilda, he went and worked with Nell. You feel a responsibility for a little one when you’re putting them in that environment. Then, we put them in the very trusty hands of Shawn Levy and wonderful Dan Levine, and they were taken care of and looked after.
Well, that’s wonderful to hear. Thank you so much, both of you, for your time, Lucy and Emily. As I said, I think casting is absolutely the keystone of so many shows, and this one is no different. It is really wonderful to see how you instill confidence in these first-time actors and bring out these incredible performances through seeing their potential. So, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciated getting to hear a little bit more behind the scenes.
Emily: Thank you!
Lucy: We really appreciate it.
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