BACK STAGE WEST
November 07, 2002
Pam Dixon caps busy casting
year with Artisan comic-book project.
by Rob Kendt
Casting director
Pam Dixon, who recently wrapped up work on Exorcist: The Beginning in Morocco, is plunging into work on the
Artisan Entertainment production of The Punisher, another in a long line of Marvel
comic-based films. Screenwriter/producer Jonathan Hensleigh (Armageddon, Jumanji) will make his directorial debut with
this adaptation of the crime-fighting pulper, with Gale Ann Hurd and Avi Arad
producing. Chances are good that this new Punisher film will erase any memory
of the poorly received Dolph Lungren starrer of 1989. Dixon indicated that the
film's casting needs will closely correspond to the comic's characters.
Dixon, who has
worked as an independent CD from her office on the Warner Bros. lot for 10
years, has bulked up her already diverse resumŽ with a busy year: She placed
talent in Craig Ferguson's small U.K.-shot pic The Family Business (a.k.a. I'll Be There), which features the acting debut of
classical singing prodigy Charlotte Church and has been picked up by Morgan
Creek for distribution; in Beyond Borders, the Angelina Jolie/Clive Owen epic story of love among
the NGOs, and in writer/director Andrew Fleming's The Wedding Party, starring Albert Brooks and Michael
Douglas. After The Punisher Dixon is set to cast two more Morgan Creek projects, Man Alive and an epic called The Northman, both of which are still seeking
directors.
Dixon doesn't
exclusively cast huge epics and action/adventure films; she also worked with
Robert Altman on Cookie's Fortune and Gosford Park. Indeed, she was one of the first casting directors credited on
an Altman film (Elisabeth Leustig was the first with Kansas City), as the director had previously relied
primarily on his longtime associate producer, Robert Eggenweiler, who died in
1999, to assist with casting duties. U.K.-based Mary Selway ended up doing the
majority of casting for Gosford after Dixon spent a year on the project stateside, filling the
key American role with the unlikely choice of Ryan Philippe; Dixon received a
"special thanks" credit in the Oscar-winning film. Dixon's other
casting credits include City Slickers, The Waterdance, The Craft,
and The Mask of Zorro.