Fiona Weir and Nina Gold talk about the process of casting Room and The Martian

As much as the modern franchise era has introduced a certain algorithmic predictability to Hollywood, the art of making movies is still, at its heart, more an alchemy than a concrete science — and few people in the business have learned that lesson better than casting directors. How do you cast a couple whose chemistry must carry a film? How do you find actors who can embody a particular period? And how do you make sure the kid you’re looking at can actually act?

As the casting directors we talked to for this story told us, it’s often a matter of intuition, informed by close relationships with their directors, years of experience, and (sometimes) just looking at as many actors as possible. Here are the tales of how six of this year’s most critically acclaimed movies found their stars.

Originally published on www.vulture.com.com read the full article here.