How ‘The Gentlemen’ casting director Dan Hubbard knew Theo James and Kaya Scodelario would have chemistry [Exclusive Video Interview]
When Dan Hubbard first saw Guy Ritchie‘s 2019 action film “The Gentlemen,” he never would’ve guessed that he soon would be casting its TV series spin-off of the same name. “I actually saw the movie during lockdown while I was locked down with my folks in Ireland and we all admired the film greatly,” Hubbard tells Gold Derby at our Meet the Experts: TV Casting Directors panel (watch the exclusive video interview above). “I remember my father talking about how well constructed and acted and cast it was by Lucinda Syson. I happened to have a relationship with Guy at the time, but I had no idea that he had a series in the works.”
The Netflix series is set in the same universe as the film, which starred Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell and Michelle Dockery, with a new set of characters and story. Theo James plays Eddie Horniman, who inherits his late father’s estate and title of Duke of Halstead. Eddie soon learns that the 1,500 acres is part of a weed-growing syndicate run by Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario) and her incarcerated father Bobby (Ray Winstone). Daniel Ings has a scene-stealing role as Freddy, Eddie’s reckless older brother and a cocaine addict. “From that point of view, it was really exciting to get that opportunity to rebuild that world and do it justice but not necessarily having to have as A-list a cast as the original movie,” Hubbard says.
James had already been cast and production on “The Gentlemen” commenced around the same time as the Season 2 premiere of “The White Lotus,” for which the actor would receive an Emmy nomination. “We had to cast Theo the same way as everyone else. He didn’t get a straight offer,” Hubbard shares. “It was such a jigsaw puzzle and building that family and making sure their chemistry was right [between] Daniel Ings and Theo. We had to get everyone to read, but the most important part of it was getting Theo to screen test with Dan Ings to make sure they had that dynamic. … Theo was so good for that because he’s so trustworthy and alpha and straight down the middle, whereas Dan is more of a wild card and certainly could come out there with all the ‘out there-ness’ of Freddy in the moment.”
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The chemistry between James and Scodelario was also paramount, but there was not enough time for a chemistry read between the actors. Hubbard was a “massive fan” of Scodelario from her work on “Skins” and was confident not only she’d be able to portray Susie’s “strength without moving” but that she and James would electrify the screen together.
“She just had that real-life experience to really empower that character of Susie because I think Susie might be the most intimidating character of the lot,” Hubbard states. “I just felt so strongly about Theo being Eddie. I just knew what he’d do with it. He’s quite a handsome chap, Theo James … I don’t think I’ve met many people who don’t swoon in his presence, men and women. I have faith in actors a lot of the time when I’ve seen their work before. And also with a director like Guy Ritchie, who is just brilliant to work with, he gets the best out of the actors. He has a sort of process, which everyone has to adhere to. It is a leap of faith, but it was just an added bonus. … I felt they’re such fine actors — there they are, the core of the characters that they’d eventually they’d find it in time. So all those little moments off camera and the little nods and the winks came from them actually. So it’s really a testament to the actors.”
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