The Rise of Trent Marley

 You know I felt if I kept calling him Host, I'd drive myself insane and I finally decided to was time to flesh him out a bit more. Meet Trent Marley!

This past Tuesday my class was broken up into smaller groups where everyone took turns talking about their project and problems they've had. When I was talking about my film, my classmate, Virginia, asked me who'd be playing the role of the Trent Marley. Up until this point I had two ideas. The first and more traditional method would've been to use Backstage, an online casting service. My boss from my Summer Internship told me about it, but I hadn't personally tried it. Luckily for me, Virginia had tried to use it for a previous short film she was making, so I asked her how her experience was with it. Overall, she said it wasn't worth it, the paywalls and navigation apparently didn't work out all to well for her.

My other idea, which in the back of my mind I was already leaning towards was trying to find a fellow student to play the role. I mentioned this to Virginia who pointed out the obvious, a student is not a fully grown talk show host. When I got home I tried to figure out a way to make a younger host seem believable, and then it hit me; Marley could be branded as "The Youngest Talk Show Hot in America"   A younger and more lively talk show host could've been pitched as a way to compete against the status quo of older people who usually put on these shows. 

This would also help at providing reasoning for why he dislikes being forced to put on a show every night because it'd be implied and/or mentioned how he was a former child star. Child stars are notorious for growing up with mass amounts of stress and anxieties as they're often thrusted into the limelight and exposed to the many cruelties of  life at a young age. So by the end of the film when the Marley is blaming Eric for his tormented life, these more weight behind his word than just 'I hate this show'. And it would also explain would Marley would want his soul to go to someone who's just a nobody, so that he could finally live a normal life.

So with that part fleshed out, I just need Trent Marley in the flesh... That's where this guy comes into play: 

Connor Lirio
(You can find him on Google)

Contrary to what he many seem like based on this one image alone, he's actually a very talented jack or all trade for the most part; I've seen him in school plays for several years now, play music, and serve as a front man to a band. The idea of casting first set foot in my mind a bout a week or two ago when in my English classes he talked about how one of his dream jobs would be hosting a late night talk show. So when the seasoned stage performer tells you that one of his dream jobs would be a talk show host, when you currently planning a film that involves a talk show host, you make lemonade. I told him about the film and the basic idea of his role, and he said he was down to play the part. Now I have to focus on finishing a script so that I can send it to him, and form a shooting schedule.