Wanna Be Young Alexander?

Great director talks casting.

Empire Online relays a story via the UK program BBC Breakfast about director Baz Luhrmann's forthcoming epic Alexander the Great. The project will star Leonardo DiCaprio as the title character, Nicole Kidman as his mother and possibly Mel Gibson as his father Philip of Macedon. Alexander will begin filming in early 2004 for a 2005 release. It will be beaten before the cameras by Oliver Stone's rival project.

"For these particular roles they're just perfect casting, it's as simple as that," Luhrmann said of his stars. "They're the kind of actors you seek out when you have extraordinary roles because they have extraordinary qualities. ... You have to look up at the screen and say I believe that 50,000 soldiers will follow that man to the end of the world. That kind of actor isn't a dime a dozen. We get a bit blinded by the fact that at a certain point in [Leo's] career he became bigger than culture on a pop level, but he really is one of the finest actors on the face of the earth."

"I'd been working on Alexander the Great, the subject for about 10 years and he's an extraordinary character," Luhrmann explained. "The issue I have is how do you really get inside that character? How do you have empathy for him? How do you take an icon and make him human? So a large part of the film is the childhood. We've goat a 9-year-old Alexander the Great. Not only has he got to look like Leonardo and be a gifted actor, but Alexander had this legendary relationship with his horse, Bucephalus, so he really needs equestrian skills. ... I've got casting set up in every country in the world. It's probably where the risk lies, resting so much with the child."

Think you or a child actor you know can play the younger version of Leonardo DiCaprio? Then send "a color head shot, CV and essential details like age, height, weight, and horse riding experience (if none then a willingness to learn may be enough) to: Universal Pictures Feature Castings Dept, UNTITLED ALEXANDER THE GREAT PROJECT, 100 Universal City Plaza, Building 2160/8A, Universal City, CA 91608, USA."

Thanks again to Empire Online!