EDMONTON -- A movie being shot in Edmonton starring Bret Hart, Corey Feldman and Dakota House is in need of a few more actors.
An open audition is being held in the province's capital city Saturday for the film Tales from the Deadzone.
The horror-thriller feature was partially shot in Edmonton in the spring before production was shut down due to COVID-19.
Hart makes his big-screen debut in the film playing a no-nonsense detective. The legendary wrestler says it was easy for him to get into character because he had just undergone painful wrist surgery before filming his scenes.
“My hand was in a lot of pain and was in a cantankerous kind of mood,” say Hart. “When the part came along, I thought I needed something to cheer me up. I needed something to distract me.”
Tales From the Deadzone isn’t a film that will cheer most people up. The story is an anthology which follows a medical examiner conducting autopsies on victims of a horrible car crash and imagines how they may have lived their lives.
“I think it’s more violent than any Canadian movie that I can remember,” said the film’s director, Barry J. Gillis.
The movie’s cast is also more most eclectic than most Canadian movies in recent memory, given the pairing of Hall of Fame wrestler Hart with 80s star Feldman.
“Some people think it’s awesome. Other people think ‘What the eff are these two doing in the same movie?’” Gillis said.
Warning: Trailer contains coarse language
He isn’t finished casting yet. The director still needs to fill five female roles for a final scene, including a mother giving birth, a tough gun-toting woman and a couple of other revealing parts.
“We’re looking for a couple of women who don’t mind wearing a bikini.”
Hart says his part is rather tiny but that’s the way he wanted it.
“I prefer a small part because I’m not trying to kick the door open on Hollywood. I’m not looking for a big career.”
The director hopes there are big things ahead for the movie when it’s released next year.
“We plan on having it play the film festival route,” said Gillis. “We’ll see what happens after that. We’re going to be shopping it around to the American film market and other film markets, European film market and things like that.”
The auditions for the female parts are Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Strathearn Centre on 95 Avenue and 87 Street.
