Casting Jean in Youth in Revolt
by tess ~ January 3rd, 2010. Filed under: Youth In Revolt.More on the casting of the Estelle part from the director Miguel Arteta:
CS: How long did it take to cast everyone around Michael once you finished the script?
Arteta: Things went pretty fast. Bob Weinstein is an amazing movie studio head, because he’s so decisive and so willing to enter into a negotiation and a dialogue creatively, so the casting process was fun. You know, like Jean Smart came on and Bob said, “Are you sure she’s the right person?” and I said, “Wait, I’ll bring Jean this weekend and I’ll show you.” The moment he saw her, he was like “Oh my God, she’s the one. Hire her!” The next day she was hired. He makes very fast (decisions) so we were able to do it and do it well. Michael Cera had a huge amount of input in the casting. Jean Smart was a person in the first phone call that I talked to him, and he was like, “how about Jean Smart for Estelle?” And he got people he had worked with in “Nick & Norah,” Jonathan B. Wright and Ari Graynor, they were both in “Nick & Norah” and they’re great. Erik Knudsen who is a local Toronto actor. (source)