#odd casting

Once Upon a Hypothetical Film Shoot, there was a bit of a casting problem.

See, there were not enough men who had answered the call to join The Movie About a High School, so the director had opened the floodgates of the internet to any men who could take part in the shoot; specifically, young, high school aged men.

And then The Middle Aged Man showed up on set. At first, the crew was unsure of where to place him; alas, he could not pass for a student. While there wasn’t a part for him in the script, after much discussion, he was designated as The Teacher.

For a while, this idea worked pleasantly well! He strutted down the hallways among the other schoolchildren, fitting in like a glove.

Until the one scene where the high school children paired off and held hands. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding, a miscommunication, or a misread of the concept, but The Teacher was part of this scene... for no other reason than having the actor available at the moment. As they shot pair after pair of people holding hands, they arrived at the The Teacher... and another young boy.

And sure enough, the young boy and the much older man paired off and held hands for the camera. To pound the nail in further, The Teacher ad libbed some dialogue with the boy about going in together. There may or may not have been a creepy smile delivered.

The brave PA looked to the befuddled AD in horror. Did they understand the new layer of subtext just added to the script? Was there a script? Was the script a lie?

To this day, the brave PA wonders if that moment ever made the final cut...