Thousands of people gathered from early this Monday in Devesa de Girona to participate in the macro-casting for the new live-action adaptation of Enredados, the Disney movie based on the tale of Rapunzel. The official call started at ten in the morning at the Palau de Fires, but much earlier the influx had already exceeded predictions.
The production is looking for between 1,500 and 2,000 extras among men, women, and children, in addition to professional and amateur dancers up to 70 years old. Early in the morning, the number of applicants already exceeded that figure. The queue occupied the entire Devesa promenade up to the clock and stretched beyond the Copa esplanade, in the direction of the Barca bridge.
A wait that began on Sunday
The first applicants arrived at the door of Fira de Girona on Sunday at eleven in the morning and spent the night in the open air to secure a spot in the in-person selection. During the early hours of the morning, people kept joining, arriving from different parts of Catalonia, but also from Madrid, Teruel, Valencia, Norway, Italy, and the Netherlands.
"I spent the night at Barcelona airport and arrived in Girona with the first train" - Marea Mammano, Italian singer
Mammano also explained that Rapunzel has always accompanied her and that she wanted to continue being part of that magic. Among the attendees there were also families who decided to travel at the last minute to try to access the test.
"We only stayed one day, but we will definitely come back, because we loved the city and we also want to visit the coast" - María Lourdes Marinas, mother
Her daughter, Laura Terrón, thus summarized her presence in the queue.
"I am a superfan of the movie since I was little, I couldn't not try it" - Laura Terrón
The access was closed earlier than expected
The dimension of the call forced the closure of in-person access at four in the afternoon, although it was planned that the day would extend until eight. The people who were left out were invited to register virtually through a QR code.
The call was open to men, women and infants between 4 and 80 years old. Dancers up to 70 years old were also sought. There were no restrictions on origin or appearance and people from Girona were prioritized, in line with a production that will turn the Barri Vell into one of the settings of the fictional kingdom where the story takes place.
Photos, forms and very diverse profiles
To the candidates who managed to enter the venue, they took photographs and made them fill out a form. In that document, they asked about dance experience, but also about jobs as waiters and about knowledge or participation in areas such as castellers and correfocs.
Among those who came at first hour was Elisa Enrech, theater student, native of Tarragona and resident in Girona.
"I got up at five in the morning and when I arrived there were already about eighty people in front of me" - Elisa Enrech, theater student
The young woman stated that she already expected a massive response and that, although she had done other jobs, she had never encountered a casting of this magnitude. For her, seeing up close how a selection like this works was already an experience in itself.
Also managed to access the family formed by María Rosa Roig, Alexis Barberà and their children Arturo and Aurora, displaced from Sant Carles de la Ràpita.
"We have done many hours of travel and we got up very early, but we are very excited, because we have been able to enter and that is already important" - María Rosa Roig
Roig explained that the whole family has been linked for years to the world of entertainment and that participating in a filming of these dimensions would make them especially excited.
Filming scheduled for July
The organization foresees that filming will extend throughout the second half of July. Before, in June, costume fittings will be done for those selected. The expectation that the call has aroused already anticipates the impact that the production will have in Girona, with the Barri Vell as one of the main focuses of the project and with a mobilization of aspirants that this Monday turned the Devesa into a point of arrival from within and outside of Catalonia.