![]() "I would say they were anointed," DeLisi said. In the end, the field was narrowed to the four Minneapolis actors, who all knew each other. Another casting call was held in Columbus, Ohio, also home to a growing Somali population, and submissions were accepted from England and Somalia. Census says roughly 25,000 Somalis live in Minnesota, while local advocates peg the number as high as 100,000). The video also was uploaded for the film's main casting director in Los Angeles.ĭeLisi said she chose Minneapolis because the city has the largest population of Somalis in the U.S. Afterward she went to a friend's house where they watched every clip and voted yes, no or maybe. "There were so many people I just had to put every single person on tape," casting search director Debbie DeLisi said. Over 700 aspiring actors showed up, filling the center. Generic flyers sought actors for what was described only as a new Tom Hanks movie. ![]() Ali (the lifeboat's navigator) - all answered an open casting call at the Brian Coyle Community Center, a hub of Minneapolis' large Somali population - in November 2011. This took part of my life."Ībdi and the other three Somali actors - Faysal Ahmed (the "muscle" of the pirates), Barkhad Abdirahman (the youngest pirate, nicknamed "Little B" by his castmates) and Mahat M. "I was just kind of a private person (before the movie). "It feels great, and a little bit scary," Abdi said of his new fame. Before that, he had shot and edited videos but "nothing major," he said. Richard Phillips captive in a lifeboat.Ībdi, 28, makes his acting debut in "Captain Phillips" as Muse, the pirates' skinny ringleader, and is generating supporting actor Oscar buzz for his performance. Navy sharpshooters picked off three of the pirates holding Capt. The four portray Somali pirates who hijacked an American cargo ship off the Horn of Africa in 2009 and took its captain, played by Hanks, hostage in "Captain Phillips," opening Friday. "We had to make sure that wasn't a dream."Ībdi and his fellow actors from Minneapolis are now living that dream of red carpet premieres and Hollywood endings. "It was exciting," Abdi recalls of that day on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - When Barkhad Abdi and three other amateur Somali actors from Minnesota learned they had won major roles in a new Tom Hanks movie, they tore off their clothes and jumped into the Pacific Ocean.
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