With the encouragement and support of friends Lisa Callif and Dylan Leiner, producer Sonia Machado-Hines decided to start telling her own stories through film. Her recent film “Hatshepsut” tells the powerful tale of a woman who ruled ancient Egypt. Drawn to stories of empowered women like this one, Machado-Hines immediately connected to the character “who ruled as a man but loved and lived as a woman,” when she read the feature script. She refers to the character as “a badass” and knew she “could help channel her in today’s world in which so many women need her history to [be inspired to] make their dreams happen without permission.”
Honor the script.
After discussing what roles needed to be cast, Machado-Hines’s husband, Terence Bernie Hines (actor-producer of “Hatshepsut”), decided to post the roles on Backstage. They started with submissions and then requested self-tapes before proceeding to in-person callbacks. Machado-Hines says they had the lead in the room for callbacks “in an effort to solicit chemistry between the cast members.” Machado-Hines notes, “I was interested in the integrity of the script and not some off-the-beaten-path [interpretation] that would interfere with the poetic message in the dialogue. Our feature script was written by an icon so I was not interested in watering down what beautiful words were already created to deliver the message of King Hatshepsut.”
Learn from doing.
From her experience casting previous films, Machado-Hines says she learned “to take the time to read lines, help the actor develop the character, and trust the process of having them in-character, in-wardrobe, and in the moment to bring the words to life on the screen.” Machado-Hines encourages actors who audition for her to “Bring it! Be willing to sacrifice and even if it seems ridiculous, you won’t know if you don’t try it. And please know your lines.” She also notes it’s important to “Follow your craft and keep yourself busy working that craft whether you have a job acting or not. Get creative filming yourself if needed and continue making your voice come out.”
Be flexible, it could get you a bigger role.
Despite her experience, every project brings its own challenges. She ended up doing some role swaps during filming, including the lead. Another similar situation was the high priestess, who was released during filming. “With the power of the intention to get this film made, I upgraded another actor from a non-speaking role and together with our dialect coach, Nehal Shahin, and one of our Associate Producers, Kathe Mazur, she was able to learn the lines and the dialect in seven hours and fulfill the role beautifully,” Machado-Hines says. She ended up casting two actors from Backstage, Joed Kariuki and Bryant Williams, but not for the roles they applied. “They each created a definite identity that was Egyptian, and Bryant developed a dialect that was so rich. They were both willing to shave their heads and had the physique that we needed to represent Ancient Egypt.”
“Hatshepsut” opens Sept. 13 at the Laemmle in Santa Monica, California.
Check out Backstage’s film audition listings!
