Girona's game of queues
5,000 people turned out for the first day of casting for the filming of Game of Thrones this summer
Good organisation ensured that all 2,400 hopefuls had been chosen by midday
Some 5,000 people turned out yesterday morning in Girona's Devesa park, all willing to queue for hours if necessary, in the hope of being chosen for the casting of Game of Thrones. Most of the hopefuls were fans of HBO's hit fantasy TV series and, despite an official announcement that said priority would be given to locals, there were many people from all over Catalonia, other parts of Spain and even France.
Among those queueing for a chance to appear in their favourite series were people of all ages and conditions, although the majority were young adults between 20 and 30. The most enthusiastic began queueing the evening before, such as Robert Barrull from Girona, who was the first in line. By the early hours there were a couple of hundred people, which soon grew to thousands as the morning progressed, producing a queue that went from Camp de Mart to la Copa.
Of those who turned out, 2,400 were preselected for the casting that takes place today. The Modexpor Internacional production company organising the event took the personal details and a photo of half of those chosen, with the rest due to do the same today.
Without a hitch
Despite the large numbers, everything went off without a hitch, and by 2pm everyone had been seen by the selectors handing out the 2,400 invitations for the next phase of the casting process. Of these, according to director, Rafael Guadamuro, the definitive 800 to 1,000 extras will be chosen. They will earn 50 euros a day and will go for a wardrobe fitting in August in the Palau de Fires.
Yesterday, those who had been selected and handed invitations entered the Palau Firal and filled out a questionnaire that made it clear that the filming days would be long, from four in the morning to half-past eight in the evening. “Think that much of that time will be taken up by wardrobe and make-up; it will need a minimum of four hours to “dress up”,” said Guadamuro. The production director also suggested that some of the extras would do a single day, while others would be expected to do two days filming, depending on their role in the TV series.