HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — J.T. and I began formal casting for the role of Danny, the film student at Judas Kiss‘ Keystone University who will star alongside Charlie David. Los Angeles is the first of what could be several major cities in which we’ll conduct our search for a talented young actor to fill this challenging role.

We went through more than 1,000 submissions from actors and their agents, knowing we couldn’t accommodate more than about 70 actors in auditions we held Saturday in Hollywood. Between a rare rain storm, actor flakiness and — let’s face it: fear about playing a gay role — a total of 55 actually showed up.

Following the audition, we reviewed all the video we shot (see the photo at right) and argued a lot. Naturally.

We saw quite a few great actors, and though we’re constrained by having to choose an actor with a very specific look, we were able to narrow the field to nine whom we’ll be seeing at callbacks in Los Angeles this coming Friday.

Even so, we’re still planning another set of auditions in Seattle (where we plan to shoot Judas Kiss later this year) for the role of Danny. If need be, we’re willing to go to New York, too. It’s vital that we pick an actor who can pull off this role.

We’ll keep you posted along the way!

— /carlos