CASTING CALL: Do You Want to Play Jim Thorpe in an Upcoming Feature Film?

Pictureworks Entertainment is looking for the actor play iconic Olymypian Jim Thorpe in the upcoming feature film Thorpe. Director Tracey Deer, who was selected late last month to direct the film, and Rene Haynes, casting director, made the announcement in a press release last night.

Thorpe is an inspiring sports drama about the Indigenous multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe. Aided by the legendary coach, Pop Warner, Jim attempts to overcome the devastation of the Native American boarding school system to achieve Olympic glory at Stockholm in 1912 and fulfill the words of his father to “show the world what an Indian can do.”

“My goal for Thorpe is to create a film that offers hope and inspiration, in spite of so much darkness, to show what is possible when you dare to dream. This is the gift of Jim’s legacy to us all,” Deer said.

Rene Haynes (Prey, The Revenant, The New World, and the upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon) is recognized internationally, as one of the foremost experts in Native American/First Nations/Indigenous casting.

“This casting call for an actor to play Jim Thorpe is a unique opportunity for a young actor to make a profound impact on screen because the story is so powerful and has to potential to inspire generations of Native American youth to excel in sports and other aspects of life,” Producer Nedra Darling (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) said.

The press release casting calling read “ROLE: JIM THORPE, male, to play age 22-25. The acclaimed Sac and Fox and Potawatomi athlete as a young man
(circa.1910 – 1913).”

“We are very much looking forward to finding the right young Native man to step into Jim’s giant shoes. We invite every tribe in the U.S. and Canada to encourage their young people to audition,” Producer Chris Taylor, Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana said.

For information on how to submit an audition, CLICK.

About the Author: "Levi Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net