Fancy acting alongside Emma Thompson, Adeel Akhtar, and Ruth Wilson? Want to work on a project from the writer of Slow Horses that’s had consistently great reviews? If the answer is a big, shout-it-out yes, then you should check out Apple TV’s Down Cemetery Road. The first series of this twisty, turny thriller dropped in October and, although a second season isn’t officially confirmed, given there are more books in the Zoë Boehm series (of which Down Cemetery Road is the first) there’s a high chance Thompson’s Zoë will be back on our screens soon. If you want to join the cast of both established and up-and-coming actors working on a top-pedigree script, it’s time to find out how to get cast.
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Based on the book by Slow Horses writer Mick Herron, Down Cemetery Road is an eight-part thriller on Apple TV. Thompson stars as no-nonsense private eye Zoë Boehm, who is hired by Ruth Wilson’s character to investigate why her neighbour’s house suddenly exploded in the middle of a very dull, suburban dinner party. Add to that a missing girl, a government cover-up, and numerous conspiracy theories, and you have the makings of a top binge watch.
The show has been adapted by writer, actress, and comedian Morwenna Banks, who also wrote on the Slow Horses TV series, so expect dry humour, as well as great characters and suspenseful plotting. Thompson told the Radio Times she was attracted to the project as “women get to do stuff and say stuff” (an understatement!) and she’d also get to work with Wilson.
As with Slow Horses, Down Cemetery Road is cast by the legendary Nina Gold. In her long career, she has cast The Crown, Game of Thrones, and Bad Sisters, as well as working on films with directors such as Steve McQueen, Chloé Zhao, and Steven Spielberg. Gold is definitely a good person to know and impress.
Although she’s been relatively discreet publicly about casting for Down Cemetery Road, she has spoken to Backstage about what she looks for in the audition room. “I guess it’s a kind of safe space to try stuff out, so, theoretically, everything is fine really,” she says. “As long as everybody is respecting each other, it’s the time to try different things out.”
“I think it’s really good when people listen. When actors actively remember to listen in the audition room, that is definitely a good thing,” she says. “Only become an actor if you absolutely have to because it’s pretty difficult to do. You have to get ready to put up with a lot. There must be incredible highs, but also lots of disappointments and rejections and learning to accept that is part of the whole of the job.”
She’s open about actively headhunting for talent too. She attends theatre performances, drama schools, and other drama groups with that in mind.
National treasures like Thompson rarely have to audition for their roles, but it seems she would have done if asked. “I never minded auditioning,” she told BAFTA in 2013. “I’d audition happily for anyone anytime now. It’s nice.”
Wilson may disagree, calling auditions “a real test of mettle.” “[When you’re just starting out], you just go for everything because you don’t really know where you fit in – and you never fit in, really,” she told Daily Actor. “You can keep changing it up and trying new things and challenging everyone’s perception of you. You just use it as an experience or to try a bit of acting or to keep going at it and practicing.”
Gold agrees. “Auditioning is hard. I feel for all the actors who have to walk into the room and make it work at the click of a finger. It’s difficult,” she told Casting Networks. “I hope they remember that, as casting directors, we’re on their side and want them to get the part.… And when they don’t get the part, it’s [got] nothing to do with the fact that they weren’t good. It’s because another person was more right.”
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