The Sacagawea one-dollar coin shows what the star of an HBO series on Lewis and Clark might look like.
Casey Affleck has already been cast as Meriwether Lewis in an HBO miniseries on the Lewis and Clark expedition, but filmmakers are still looking for a young Native American woman to play the part of Sacagawea, the expedition’s Shoshone guide and interpreter.
Casting calls being held in Montana and other locations throughout the Northwest will also be seeking Native Americans familiar with traditional languages, as well as horseback riders.
Deny Staggs, bureau chief for the Montana Film Office, said the casting director is Rene Haynes, a native of Great Falls who is “the preeminent Native American casting director in the entire industry. She’s awesome, so we’re really psyched she’s working on that.”
Casting calls are scheduled for early November in Missoula, Polson and Browning, but taped auditions and interviews are also being accepted.
According to a press release from the Montana Film Office, HBO will be basing the six-hour miniseries on “Undaunted Courage,” Stephen E. Ambrose’s acclaimed book about the Corps of Discovery, sent by President Thomas Jefferson to seek the fabled all-water route to the Pacific Ocean.
Casey Affleck
The release described the series as “the story of America’s first contact with the land and Native tribes of the country west of the Mississippi River.” A story in the Hollywood Reporter said the series “will focus on the achievements of Lewis and Clark as well as the physical, spiritual and emotional toll the expedition takes on them.”
Haynes will be looking for a Native American woman age 17 to early 20s, but who appears younger, to play Sacagawea. She will also be looking for Native Americans of all ages who familiar with these languages: Shoshone, Nez Perce, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Blackfeet, Chinook, Clatsop, Walla Walla, Sioux and Shawnee.
“These are the languages of some of the peoples whom Lewis and Clark encountered on their journey and who were important to the expedition’s success,” Haynes said in the release. “We will make every effort to find as many authentic speakers as we can to be respectful to everyone’s contribution to this important story.”
Native men 20 to 50 years old who are lean and fit and who are skilled horseback riders are also encouraged to apply. Long hair is considered a plus.
Staggs said the miniseries is a production of HBO and National Geographic Entertainment, as well as production companies associated with three Hollywood stars — Tom Hanks’ Playtone, Edward Norton’s Class 5 and Brad Pitt’s Plan B. The director is John Curran. The Hollywood Reporter said Norton, Curran and Michelle Ashford are writing the script.
Staggs said the filmmakers apparently haven’t decided where the filming will be done yet. Locations have been scouted all along the Lewis and Clark trail and elsewhere, he said, with the scouting in Montana concentrated on the area between Bozeman and Three Forks.
“We’ve gotten really, really great response from them on our looks, but I’m sure they’ve scouted other locations here and in Canada,” Staggs said.
Haynes has been involved in Native American casting going back to “Dances With Wolves,” the 1990 movie starring Kevin Costner. Since then, she has done the casting for “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” “Twilight Saga: New Moon & Eclipse,” “Skins” and “Into the West.”
Here’s the schedule for the casting calls: Missoula, Nov. 5, Holiday Inn Missoula Downtown; Polson, Nov. 8, Best Western KwaTaqNuk Resort; Browning, Montana Holiday Inn Express & Suites. All sessions will run from noon to 6 p.m.
To apply online, go here. The application deadline is Nov. 12. Other casting calls will be held in Canada, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington.
