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Casting agents for the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV show are in desperate need of extras to play orcs and want toothless, heavily-wrinkled and hairy people to apply.
Two Auckland casting companies have issued appeals to fill roles for the grotesque monsters on the new Amazon Lord of the Rings series, which begins filming in 2020.
One of the agencies turned to Facebook, where they asked for suitable applicants under 5ft or over 6ft 5ins with 'wonderful noses' and 'character faces'.
The other, was more specific in their request, asking for lots of wrinkles and 'hairy hairy people of all ages and ethnicities'.
A file photo shows an Orc from the 2002 Lord of the Rings film, The Two Towers. One Kiwi who has jumped at the chance is Justin Smith, 41, who believes his unique appearance and lack of teeth will make him a top pick for the role
'HAIR HAIR HAIR — if you have natural red hair, white hair, or lots and lots of freckles,' the agency added.
In the country of just under five million, casting companies are struggling to fill roles of the freakish J.R.R Tolkien creations and have resorted to hitting the streets to find suitably odd-looking members of the public, according to the Wall Street Journal.
One Kiwi who has jumped at the chance, responding to online advertisement, is Justin Smith, 41, who believes his unique appearance makes him a top pick for a role.
'I’ve got more than missing teeth, I’ve got none,' the lorry driver, who lost his entire set in a surfing accident, told the Wall Street Journal.
A file photo from the Return of the King, released in 2003, shows, Gothmog, a hideously disfigured Orc chieftain who leads Sauron's horde to war. Two Auckland casting companies have issued appeals to fill roles for the new Amazon Lord of the Rings series, which begins filming in 2020
A file photo from The Return of the King shows an Orc in battle, in a scene from the film adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien's classic. In addition to being fed for pretending to be a malevolent goblin or a homely hobbit for the day, extras in New Zealand are paid £148
In his application, he submitted photos of his toothless grin and is waiting for a callback to audition.
Another applicant, Nick King, from Christchurch, decided to apply after friends persuaded him that he had a 'character face'.
King, who said he's a musician, photographer and graphic designer, added that the application process involved answering whether he could switch between accents and had sword-fighting training.
In addition to being fed for pretending to be a malevolent goblin or a homely hobbit for the day, extras in New Zealand are paid £148. Experts say that employing people with distinguished features will save on make up costs.
The TV series will be in the same fictional universe created by legendary author J.R.R. Tolkien, who published the series at intervals between 1954 and 1955.
Similarly to the books, and the Peter Jackson adaptations in the early 2000s, the landscapes will be populated with horrific humanoid monsters, dwarfish citizens of mythical villages, and slender celestial elves.
Amazon has dropped £190 million just on the rights for the upcoming series, and the details, including cast and plot, are a stone-guarded secret.
The Lord of the Rings movie franchise, produced between 2001 and 2003, cost over £225 million and required more than 20,000 extras to populate the epic scenes.
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