A Hollywood studio is gearing up to shoot in Dunedin later this month, with hopefuls trying out for casting as extras at the Fortune Theatre yesterday.
Would-be extras who turned up were asked to be available between October 18 and November 6 for shooting in and around Dunedin on the film The Light Between Oceans.
Shooting locations for the Dreamworks film, which stars Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz, included Port Chalmers, which is set to have its main street and footpath covered in dirt to fit the film's 1920s period.
Parts of the film would also be shot in the Central Otago village of St Bathans.
Casting department staff member Loren Taylor said the studio was looking for about 120 extras for shooting in Otago.
In the casting call sent out to would-be extras, she said it was particularly keen to find identical twin boys aged 2 or 3 months, and men to play soldiers wounded after returning home from World War 1.
This meant ''amputees, or men with scars and injuries that could be consistent with war wounds''.
University of Otago theatre studies student Layla Moutrib, who attended casting yesterday, said being an extra would be the perfect opportunity to see what went on behind the scenes of a major film production, while earning a bit of cash.
The opportunity to see major Hollywood stars, especially Fassbender, was a bonus.
''He's a bit of a babe,'' Ms Moutrib said.
The art department for the film had already set up shop in the old Bell Tea building in Carroll St, and was understood to be doing some preliminary work on Otago Peninsula.
A Port Chalmers man, who was having part of the film shot in his house, said residents had been sent leaflets warning them of delays during shooting on the town's main road, George St.
The street would be covered in dirt, but remain open during shooting, with a ''stop go man'' directing traffic, the man, who declined to be named, said.
The resident said Weisz was expected to be part of the shoot at his house, but he would not be star-struck when she arrived in the town.
''I didn't even know who they were,'' he said on first hearing who was starring in the film.
The film, based on a book of the same name and set on an island off Western Australia, stars Fassbender in the main role and Weisz as his wife.
It is directed by Derek Cianfrance, whose previous films include Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines.
Weisz, who is married to James Bond actor Daniel Craig, won an Oscar for her supporting role in The Constant Gardener and Fassbender was nominated for his role in 12 Years a Slave.
People interested in playing extras - either in Dunedin or St Bathans, where extras casting is being held on October 11 - could contact Ms Taylor at lorencarlataylor@gmail.com.
