The N.W.A biopic film "Straight Outta Compton" is well on its way, after announcing several of the lead characters and a release date in mid-June, the film went on to start casting for other roles, some of which have raised a few eyebrows.
Universal Pictures announced that "Straight Outta Compton" will hit theatres in August 14, 2015 at the same time Dr. Dre unveiled the first promo image from the film. Immediately the fans got excited for what's to come, however "Straight Outta Compton" faltered last week when Sande Alessi Casting posted an open casting call on their Facebook page deemed racist, colorist and sexist by many. The casting call referred to an "A" class of women that must be "the hottest of the hottest" and was open to all races, while the "D" class of women was limited to "African American girls" that were "poor, not in good shape" with "medium to dark skin tone" (the skin tone requested got progressively darker which each letter A, B, C, D).
The casting call read as follows:
SAG OR NON UNION CASTING NOTICE FOR FEMALES-ALL ETHNICITIES- from the late 80's. Shoots on "Straight Outta Compton". Shoot date TBD. We are pulling photos for the director of featured extras. VERY IMPORTANT – You MUST live in the Los Angeles area (Orange County is fine too) to work on this show. DO NOT SUBMIT if you live out of the area. Nobody is going to be flying into LA to do extra work on this show - and don't tell me you are willing to fly in.
SAG OR NON UNION FEMALES - PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR SPECIFIC BREAKDOWN. DO NOT EMAIL IN FOR MORE THAN ONE CATEGORY:
A GIRLS: These are the hottest of the hottest. Models. MUST have real hair - no extensions, very classy looking, great bodies. You can be black, white, asian, hispanic, mid eastern, or mixed race too. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.com subject line should read: A GIRLS
B GIRLS: These are fine girls, long natural hair, really nice bodies. Small waists, nice hips. You should be light-skinned. Beyonce is a prototype here. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.comsubject line should read: B GIRLS
C GIRLS: These are African American girls, medium to light skinned with a weave. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.com subject line should read: C GIRLS
D GIRLS: These are African American girls. Poor, not in good shape. Medium to dark skin tone. Character types. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.com subject line should read: D GIRLS
Sande Alessi Casting has since deleted their Facebook post in face of the backlash, and the woman who posted it specifically has released an apology on her own Facebook page.
In her apology she says, "The casting notice I posted was vile and disgusting. I have re-read it so many times and every single time I feel sick to my stomach. For me not to see how utterly offensive this was at the time I posted it, is unbelievable to me. I was in pure casting mode at that moment. I was under the gun to pull photos for a film and I haphazardly posted something that in my eyes was simply filling roles. Looking back, I narrow-mindedly thought that just actors on our page would see the notice, respond like they always do and I would cast these roles and that’s it. I have never been so wrong. When I assigned the lettering system, I was doing what I always do on a big movie. Because there are so many roles to fill, I assigned alphabet letters because it was easier to filter that way. In a million years, I never thought that assigning these letters would translate into a grading system for women. Looking back, I can see that it looks EXACTLY that way."
We'll continue to update you as the film gets under way.