This is England creator Shane Meadows issues call for non-professional actors with northern accents for new BBC drama

The open casting call is carried out in association with Shaheen Baig Casting and Element Pictures, for an untitled, new Shane Meadows project.

In a post on Twitter, the advert for the new television show states casting directors are searching for “confident, charismatic, ambitious and witty people to play roles in an upcoming BBC drama set in the North of England.”

While the characters which feature in the drama are intended to be from Yorkshire, the casting call is seeking to find non-professional actors with a “natural Northern accent, ideally Yorkshire.”

Men and women of all ethnicities are wanted to play characters aged between 25 and 45-years-old.

But no previous acting experience is necessary and first time, non-professional actors who have a northern accent are encouraged to respond to the casting call and apply.

Represented actors will also be met separately and their agents should submit their details through the normal channels rather than applying through the casting call.

Director, screenwriter and actor Shane Meadows is best known for his work in independent films such as Dead Man’s Shoes, which was set in Derbyshire and featured Matlock’s Riber Castle, along with A Room For Romeo Brass, as well as the cult classic This Is England.

He is known for casting first time actors without professional experience and encouraging them to build characterisation through improvisation.

Both the This Is England franchise – which went on to become a trilogy television series and Shane’s most recent television offering, The Virtues, were partly filmed in Sheffield.

Anyone interested in being involved with the project should email [email protected] with your name and contact details as well as where you are based.

Applicants will also need to submit a short video clip which is no longer than one minute, telling them a bit about yourself or going through a story you want to share.

First time actors submitting videos are asked to label them clearly because they cannot process anything which is not labelled correctly.

The casting deadline date is Friday, April 9 and for more information on Shaheen Baig casting please visit: http://shaheenbaigcasting.com/.

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