Actors assemble in LCR for Marvel-lous Hollywood blockbuster

UEA students attended an open audition for a “Hollywood action film” in the LCR today – rumoured to be for upcoming Marvel movie ‘Avengers 2: Age of Ultron’.

The casting session for the film, referred to on casting sheets and fliers as ‘Afterparty’, invited “male and female background artists… 18-45, of all ethnicities” to audition as extras for a “Hollywood action/superhero family film” in the LCR on Tuesday 20^th, from 10am-3pm.

Auditionees were told that they must be available on the 5^th, 6^th and 13^th of June 2014, and that their scenes would be shot “less than 10 minutes away” from UEA – raising the possibility that some scenes from the movie will be filmed in Norwich.

‘Afterparty’ is rumoured to be the codename for Joss Whedon’s upcoming superhero movie ‘Avengers 2: Age of Ultron’, filming for which is currently taking place in a range of locations worldwide. Principal photography has been underway in the UK since mid-March, and several scenes are already known to have been shot in Hampshire and London.

Last week, pictures appeared of ‘Avengers’ cast members Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jnr. holding up signs in support of cancer survivor Stratford Caldecott, which bore the ‘Afterparty’ name and logo. The logo used was identical to those used on posters and signs to promote the audition at UEA.

Thor and Iron Man pose for a picture with signs containing the ‘Afterparty’ logo

Wannabe student super-heroes and super-heroines were hustled into the LCR “casting zone”, where they were photographed, had their height and chest size measured by the wardrobe department, and left their contact details.

One movie hopeful described the experience: “I was walking through the Hive, and there was something going on in the LCR. I asked the guard, so he said it was an audition, and did I want to try? I went in and sat at a table with another girl – we had to sign forms with our names and a non-disclosure agreement. People were saying it was for the next Avengers movie, but I wasn’t so sure.

“After we signed it, it was just like any audition. It could have been for any film. We had to stand on a spot, hold up the sign with our number on it and have our picture taken. Then we had our measurements taken – waist, chest, hips and inner thigh for the guys. That was it.”

“But the legal agreement was full of references to Marvel,” she added. “So I talked to the guys at the end of the audition, and asked them ‘Is this for the Avengers 2?’ They said ‘Well, it’s not for me to say…’ but winked, and they said that it was definitely not an audition for a TV show, nor was it for Agents of Shield.

“There were tons of people there – at least 150 people had auditioned by the time that I got out at half twelve, but apparently there were still not as many people there as the casting guys had hoped. Maybe holding it right in the middle of exams was a bad idea.”

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ is the sequel to 2012 blockbuster ‘Avengers Assemble’. The movie is slated for a release in May 2015.