RED HOOK — Wannabe thugs, addicts and gang-bangers lined up at a Red Hook community center Friday afternoon for a shot to appear on the silver screen.
Director George Tillman Jr., the man behind "Barbershop," "Soul Food," and "Men of Honor," sent Central Casting to the Red Hook Initiative Center on Hicks Street to recruit extras for his latest film, "The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete."
"We are looking for Latinos and African Americans to portray all walks of life (including neighborhood types, thugs, junkies, homeless people, gangsters, kids, hookers, etc.)," a flier said.
Acting hopefuls filled out a couple forms, then posed for two pictures each. Tillman and his staff will then browse the photos to choose actors as extras and other small roles in the film.
This was the second casting call in a year hosted by the RHI Center, which is located across the street from the Red Hook Houses, one of the city's largest public housing complexes. Last July, director Spike Lee recruited actors for "Red Hook Summer," slated for limited release Aug. 10.
"Unemployment is greater than 60 percent in the Red Hook Houses," said Jill Eisenhard, founder and director of the Red Hook Initiative. "Being able to offer an extra source of income is very important. That's why we said they could come here."
The acting hopefuls ranged in age from 5 to at least 50. "I want to be a homeless person," 13-year-old Kemisha Frederick said. "It would be something different."
Twenty-eight-year-old Raul Ramos, a pizzeria cook on the Lower East Side who hopes to build his acting portfolio, said one his greatest assets was that his "face changes. I can grow my beard out. I can look like a crackhead."
