The makers of the film that studio CBS will make of the book Bestsellerboy by Mano Bouzamour are looking for a young Dutch actor who will play the lead role. They posted an ad on Saturday online in which Dutch boys ‘between 18 and 24 years old with acting talent and a North African appearance‘ are asked to report.
The American studio is going to make a ten-part Dutch television series of Bouzamour‘s book. It is the first time that CBS has developed a Dutch-language production in this way. AVROTROS is a co-producer and will broadcast the series in the Netherlands.
Bestsellerboy is the second novel by the 30-year-old writer after The Promise of Pisa. The book is about the adventures of a young Amsterdam writer of Moroccan origin whose life turns upside down when he writes a bestseller. The recordings are expected to take place in Amsterdam and Morocco in the second half of 2021.
Tricky combination
“It’s a tricky combination of qualifications that makes finding a good protagonist difficult,” says director Norbert ter Hall. “Age, availability, sporty, the looks of a protagonist and love for language. But we‘re going to find him.” Ter Hall emphasises that actors who are already undergoing training, as well as young people with talent who are not enrolled in a theatre school.
Candidates may register until 12 February via casting agency Oimundo. The series will be the first project of the new production company Midpoint Film & TV by Dutch screenwriters Robert Alberdingk Thijm (A’dam-eva), Pieter Bart Korthuis (Penoza) and Franky Ribbens (Hollands Hoop). They write the screenplay for Bestsellerboy together with Bouzamour.
It is the second book by the success author to be filmed; previously screenwriter Alberdingk Thijm and director Norbert ter Hall made a film of The Promise of Pisa. The coming of age story received rave reviews and protagonist Shahine el-Hamus won a Golden Calf for his performance.