History Main / AmateurCast

* ''TheKiteRunner'' did this, at least with the Afghan actors, using actual Afghan people.

* Many of the actors in ''ASeriousMan''.

[[AC:{{Live Action Television}}]]

* The original cast of ''RedDwarf'' had all ''appeared'' on TV and/or film before, but none of them were "proper actors": Chris Barrie was an impressionist & voice actor, Craig Charles was a poet, Danny John-Jules was a dancer and Norman Lovett was a stand-up comedian. Likewise, Hattie Hayridge was also a stand-up comedian before joining the cast in Series III; however, Robert Llewellyn and Chloe Annett (who joined the cast in Series III and VII respectively) were both "legit" actors.

* WernerHerzog is known to do this, with ''Film/{{Stroszek}}'' being the best example. Bruno S. made only two films, both with Herzog, and Eva Mattes was the only professional actress in it — everyone else was just someone whom Herzog saw during filming and wanted to use.

* The early 90's cast of SaturdayNightLive was made up almost entirely of standup comedians (David Spade, Adam Sandler, etc.) instead of the improv actors the series had relied on. Although {{vindicated by history}}, the ratings were so low that the show was almost cancelled. This is often blamed on the cast concentrating on characters from their standup instead of doing ensemble work.

* The Swedish movie ShowMeLove had a largely inexperienced cast.

* In the film version of "IMissYouIMissYou" nearly all of the teenage characters were played by amateurs.

* The star of ''{{District 9}}'', Sharlto Copley, was hired because he just happened to be hanging out where the director was filming footage for the effects test.

* WernerHerzog is known to do this, with ''{{Stroszek}}'' being the best example. Bruno S. made only two films, both with Herzog, and Eva Mattes was the only professional actress in it — everyone else was just someone whom Herzog saw during filming and wanted to use.

* The Afghan movie ''{{Osama}}'' did this.

* The star of {{District9}}, Sharlto Copley, was hired because he just happened to be hanging out where the director was filming footage for the effects test.

* The early 90's cast of SaturdayNightLive was made up almost entirely of standup comedians (David Spade, Adam Sandler, etc.) instead of the improv actors the series had relied on. Although vindicatedbyhistory , the ratings were so low that the show was almost cancelled. This is often blamed on the cast concentrating on characters from their standup instead of doing ensemble work.

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* The original cast of Red Dwarf had all ''appeared'' on TV and/or film before, but none of them were "proper actors": Chris Barrie was an impressionist & voice actor, Craig Charles was a poet, Danny John-Jules was a dancer and Norman Lovett was a stand-up comedian. Likewise, Hattie Hayridge was also a stand-up comedian before joining the cast in Series III; however, Robert Llewellyn and Chloe Annett (who joined the cast in Series III and VII respectively) were both "legit" actors.

* WernerHerzog is known to do this, with ''{{Stroszek}}'' being the best example. Bruno S. only made two films, both with Herzog, and Eva Mattes was the only real actress in it - everyone else was just someone that Herzog saw during filming and wanted to use.
* Peter Hall's 1974 British film ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akenfield Akenfield]]'' uses entirely non-union amateur actors (and apparently cameramen too, by the look of it).
* ToKillAMockingbird did this with the parts for the children, which were filled by local kids near the shooting spot. None of them went on to have careers as normal actors.

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