Got Gaelic? You could be Child Star in "Eagle of the Ninth"

More news tonight regarding Kevin MacDonald/s upcoming The Eagle of the Ninth, starring Jamie Bell. The Times is reporting that a wide casting call has gone out for young lad "aged between nine and 12, speak fluent Gaelic and look convincing as a 2nd century member of the Seal People, a mysterious tribe who play a crucial role in the film. The character, known as Seal Boy, will feature heavily in the movie. The casting team has auditioned a string of candidates but so far has not found the right actor.“We need a boy with a lot of energy and feist. So far no one has been suitable,” said Kimberley O’Neill, the film’s casting assistant. She added that several other Gaelic-speaking supporting roles, are also in the process of being cast. Channing Tatum, who plays Pretty Boy Floyd in the 2009 film Public Enemies, is Marcus Aquila, a young Roman officer and son of the legion’s commander. Bell plays his slave Esca, with whom he travels to Scotland to retrieve the legion’s standard and remove the stain on the family honour. During their travels they meet the Seal People, who speak Gaelic and dress in seal skins."

As readers of this blog will long know, casting by long time Sigma associate Des Hamilton has been well underway for the movie which will be based at FILM CITY GLASGOW, and mark the return of Jamie Bell, star of Hallam Foe, back to Scotland. Filming is due to begin in October for the movie on location in the Highlands of Scotland, notably "filmed north of Ullapool in Wester Ross, around Loch Lomond and at other locations closer to the production’s Scottish base at Film City in Glasgow."

The article makes note of the decision to use Gaelic in the movie; no word if the main stars will also be speaking the language in the film, but the piece points out that "Macdonald’s decision to use Gaelic in the film has ruled out most well-known Scots actors and has raised eyebrows among academics, who claim the Romans’ adversaries would not have spoken the language. Gordon Maloney, of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic college on Skye, said that while Pictish and Gaelic belonged to the same family of Celtic languages, they were far from interchangeable.

“In the 2nd century they would have been speaking Pictish,” he said.“It’s about as similar as English is to Spanish. The language spoken then wouldn’t be understandable. It would make just as much sense to have them speak English. Historically it would be quite inaccurate.”

Julius Caesar invaded England in 55 BC, but it was another 135 years before the Romans made any meaningful incursions into Scotland. They established forts from Dumfriesshire to Tayside. But their territory was continually threatened and they built Hadrian’s Wall to keep the northern tribes out.

Hadrians wall lol, King Arthur w/Clive any one? VIVA TRISTAN ala Mads Mikkelsen best kick as Arthurian soldier recruit ever on film, just sayin' :) Please note: Eagle is NOT a Sigma production, just one that fascinates me, is based out of the fabulous Film City Glasgow, and stars Jamie Bell, cant wait to follow this production too! More actual Sigma stuff coming soon, promise!