O’Connor Casting Helps Bring SXSW Hit ‘Adrianne and the Castle’ to Life

“Love and loss are universal.” This declaration by O’Connor Casting’s Virginia Anello is at the heart of the SXSW and Fantasia hit, Adrianne & The Castle. Virginia stopped by SCREEN to take you inside the casting effort behind this powerful film and to bring you a preview of the piece, ahead of its screening at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre this Saturday, November 23.

In this inventive and whimsical true story of great love and loss, Alan St-George is a mascot-maker and artist in rural Illinois who hand-made an ornate and elaborate castle with his late wife Adrianne. Since her death in 2006 he continues to put the finishing touches on Havencrest Castle, which stands as a “temple” dedicated to their transcendent love.

The casting director duo of Virginia Anello and Jessica Lyons were immediately drawn to this unique and inventive project. “Producers Ina and Diana, director Shannon, and writer Laurel approached us with a love story, but also with a unique perspective on how to film it,” Virginia shared with SCREEN. “They are such an amazing team, we knew that anything they made would be a beautiful project – one that we would be very proud to be a part of. So when they expressed interest in meeting with us and scouting O’Connor’s studios, we were happy to have them. Their plan to incorporate the casting for Young Adrianne into the documentary made this special for us – giving audiences an inside look at the casting process and showcasing the many talented actresses. It was something we could not pass up.”

Here is your first look at the film…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UUnjIo2sXA

Acclaimed filmmaker Shannon Walsh (The Gig Is Up, Illusions Of Control) collaborates with Alan to tell his and Adrianne’s fairytale love story through fantastical musical re-enactments. In so doing, Alan grapples with his profound grief, revealing with lucidity and extraordinary candor his struggle to find a way forward without the love of his life.

As Anello mentioned, the challenge for O’Connor Casting was unique, as Walsh needed an actor to portray Young Adrianne in the flashbacks, and she wanted to include the casting process for that actress in the documentary. So Anello and Lyons cast for the pivotal role, and they filmed that process along the way.

“Casting for someone to portray an actual person is always going to be unique and challenging,” Anello shared with SCREEN. “We love a good challenge – it’s like finding that one puzzle piece that ties the final image together.  We were particularly drawn to the fact that Adrianne’s widow Alan, her friend Margaret, and even Adrianne herself – though old videos and recordings – would be the ones to clue us in on her larger-than-life personality.”

And now the all-important question: Why should you change your plans for this weekend immediately and head to the historic Music Box Theatre this Saturday? “Love and loss are universal,” Virginia declared to SCREEN. “Grief is what happens when love has no place to go, but when you channel that into art, then the love lives on.  We think audiences everywhere will connect with Alan’s enduring love for Adrianne and the absolute spectacle of the castle he built for her.  It’s particularly engaging for Illinois audiences, since they can tour and immerse themselves in the castle. This magical film, along with Alan and Adrianne’s Castle, are the art that has come from this love story.”

Click here for your tickets to the screening at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre this Saturday, November 23. Be sure to check back here at SCREEN Magazine for the latest news from the filmmaking community between the coasts. You can also click right here to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.