Welcome to our latest series at Casting Networks: Filmmaker Spotlight. No matter what area of the industry in which you find yourself, it’s always a good idea to maintain a working knowledge of filmmakers, whether they be established or up-and-coming. We’re here to help with a series that provides a window into some of the need-to-know names in the field. And the first filmmaker to be featured is someone who can be found multiple times on this year’s list of Oscar nominees, Chloé Zhao.
Zhao received a Best Director nod for Nomadland, making history as the first Chinese woman and the first woman of color to ever be recognized in that category by the Academy. She was also nominated for the film in the categories of Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. The 38-year-old filmmaker adapted Nomadland from Jessica Bruder’s nonfiction book of the same title, and the film follows a widow named Fern (Frances McDormand) who explores life as a modern-day nomad. Along the way, Fern meets a number of other people living the same way, most of whom are played by real-life nomads.
It’s not the first time Zhao has worked with non-actors to bring a sense of realism to her films. According to Vulture, the filmmaker found the lead for her 2015 feature film debut, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, from a school yearbook. The title remains as John Reddy’s only film credit to date, and the same is true of the lead actor for Zhao’s sophomore endeavor, The Rider. After meeting Brady Jandreau on the ranch where he worked, she cast him to help tell the story of an injured rodeo star, one that echoed his own.
Nomadland saw Zhao working with a seasoned, Oscar-winning actor like McDormand for the first time. “I feel incredibly lucky that my first experience with a professional actor was with someone who was willing — whether it was difficult for her or not — to step out of her comfort zone and be completely open and vulnerable in those moments you see on screen,” the filmmaker shared with Deadline. “I need to work with actors who will give themselves in front of the camera in the same way non-professional actors give themselves. And that’s what Fran did.”
Zhao will be working with a number of A-list professionals on her upcoming project, Marvel’s Eternals, which boasts a cast list of names such as Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan and Richard Madden. According to USA TODAY, Eternals is the first Marvel movie that will feature a deaf superhero (Lauren Ridloff), an openly gay superhero (Brian Tyree Henry) and a South Asian superhero (Nanjiani). Zhao shared in an interview with the publication that the groundbreaking nature of the film’s cast wasn’t the end goal, though. “Casting only works when it makes sense for the story,” she noted. “For Eternals, as a story it makes sense that we have a very, very diverse cast… and it’s really about the [characters] as individuals.”
You’ll have to wait until November for Zhao’s upcoming entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to release, but in the meantime, you can watch or re-watch her heavily-accoladed Nomadland before this year’s Academy Awards on April 25. At that time, we’ll find out if the next chapter in Zhao’s career as a filmmaker includes one, two, three or even four Oscar wins.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for breaking industry news and exclusive offers!
Filmmaker Spotlight: Chloé Zhao
March 19, 2021 | Cat Elliott
The Daily Roundup
Sign up to get must-read entertainment headlines and audition advice delivered to your inbox every weekday.