Success Story: How Christina Largent Found Her Acting Community on the Set of Netflix’s ‘Rebel Moon’
Christina Largent caught the acting bug as a kid and dabbled in the field as a young adult. After taking a more traditional path, she picked her passion back up and has found success as an actor.
Largent got her start in improv with The Portuguese Kids troupe, leading to her eventual move from Boston to LA. Through Casting Networks, the Portuguese-German actress was able to snag a background role in Rebel Moon, Zack Snyder’s latest film, which is now streaming on Netflix.
Largent took time to discuss her journey as an actor, as well as her time on the set of Rebel Moon, sharing some profile and audition tips along the way.
How did you get started as an actor?
I originally got interested when I was in high school and I was in the choir. They asked me to sing in A Christmas Carol. I did that and immediately got addicted to theater life, and then I pursued it after high school briefly.
I did extra work in Portland, Oregon. After that, I moved out to the East Coast and met my husband, had my kids and sort of put [acting] on the back burner to focus on raising my children. At some point they became teenagers and I thought, “They’re going to be leaving the nest soon. I need a hobby so that I don’t get bored.”
I was living in Boston at the time and I was a fan of this comedy group called The Portuguese Kids. They posted on Facebook that they were looking for people to star in their dinner theater show called My Big Fat Portuguese Wedding. So I thought, “Why not? What else am I going to do?” The kids were at their dad’s house. The drive was an hour and a half each way to the audition. I drove three hours for an audition.
I’m half Portuguese. I thought, “They’re never going to hire me for this. I don’t look Portuguese.” The only connection I had was being raised with some Portuguese traditions, and they asked me to do a Portuguese accent.
I did it terribly. [My accent] sounded Italian. I thought, “They’re never going to give it to me,” but they did. They called me to let me know that I had the part, and they taught me improv. We had improv training for about six months and rehearsals, and the very first show I did was sold out.
Photo credit Henrique Mano, courtesy of Christina Largent.I ended up going on tour with them. Every show was a sellout. I played for thousands of people and toured internationally with them to Canada. That was a wild time. Canadian fans are crazy. I would have kept going with that, but the pandemic killed the show.
Right before the pandemic hit, I had an opportunity to audition for a movie, which was Adam Sandler’s Hubie Halloween, and ended up booking a background role on that from what I like to call a cattle call, which was just an open casting call to the public. I enjoyed that, ended up meeting Adam Sandler and his mom, and had such a good time that I thought, “Okay, I’m going to keep doing this.”
Here I am today. It took me all the way out to Hollywood because I wanted access to better roles. There was only so far I could get in New England.
Tell me the story about how you got booked in Rebel Moon.
I was working with an agency here in LA and I was also self-submitting using Casting Networks. I saw this casting call for a “Netflix space opera looking for tall Nordic types” and I thought, “Well, that’s me.” Even though I’m Portuguese, I’m still half German. So, I’ve got that going for me.
I remember specifically noting that the availability in the casting call was like, “Must be available all summer. Must have open dates all summer.” I guess that’s what drew me into it was that it was going to be a very long project. When I booked it, I went down to Netflix and had my costume fitting.
What was your experience like on the set of Rebel Moon?
It was great. All of us villagers became friends.
We filmed up at this ranch in Santa Clarita. It was a little outside of LA, so production put us up in a hotel and I ended up calling it “adult summer camp” because we would often work together all day, and then we would go back to the hotel and make what I call “Rebel Moon soup” in the hot tub.
It was a great community. Zach Snyder is such an amazing director. Everybody was super nice. I have zero complaints about anybody on that set.
Photo courtesy of Christina Largent.What would you say helps someone succeed on Casting Networks?
You need to be checking and searching every day. I know Casting Networks can create a custom search so you can set the parameters, and then Casting Networks will also notify you when roles become available matching your search criteria.
Having great photos and having some reels is also helpful. Using the customized search and getting email notifications about available roles would help somebody book on Casting Networks.
What audition tips or advice do you have that you could share with your peers, whether it’s how to be the best at an audition, how to get better at self tapes, or what not to do in a self tape?
Have a good reader for your audition. With the [SAG-AFTRA] strike and insecure work of the acting field, I haven’t had the money to take [many] acting classes and do scene studies. [With] my scene partner, who I read with for every audition, we use that as an opportunity for scene study.
We’ll break down the sides. He’ll help me film. We’ve got a dedicated space where we do our auditions. There’s a backdrop. It’s well-lit. We have microphones.
The most important part is that my partner will give me notes as I do my audition because we’ll do a few different takes. [He’ll say,] “Let’s try it this way.”
If you have a really good partner that you trust that can read for you, that is important. [You need] somebody willing to give you notes to help your audition. He was on Rebel Moon, too. That’s where I met him and [I’m] very thankful to have him.
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Chris Butera is a voice actor specializing in commercial, eLearning and corporate narration voiceovers. When he’s not helping clients achieve their goals, he’s playing guitar and bass.
