Inside the ‘Baywatch’ reboot casting call with 2,000 wannabe lifeguards

It’s impossible to wear a red Speedo in the rain.

That much is clear. Everyone knows that.

That’s why, after two days of torrential rain in the City of Angels, God opened the heavens, if only for a few hours, so 2,000 actors, models and wannabes could strip off their swimsuits under the blue sky and flood the marina for an open casting call for Fox’s Baywatch reboot.

On a recent Wednesday morning, people of all ages and body mass indexes lined up like spandex-clad cows outside the Marina del Rey Marriott and are ushered onto the sand for a group photo. A man in his 20s jogs to a lifeguard tower wearing only red underwear while holding his genitals. A middle-aged woman does a last-minute scissor kick in a parking lot. Even 50-degree weather doesn’t stop some contestants from running in slow motion underwater. Yes, the dream of becoming Hollywood’s next David Hasselhoff or Pamela Anderson is palpable.

“How many people actually know CPR?” asks a photographer perched on a ladder. Almost everyone raises their hand. “I could have saved your life,” one man later told me without smiling. His manscaped, melanoma-spotted body glistens with oil. Am I in danger?

With a direct-to-series order, the reboot will pick up where “Baywatch” left off more than 25 years ago in Los Angeles. This lifeguard drama is a worldwide phenomenon, turning Southern California beaches and the hot, bronzed bodies that patrol them into a symbol of American aspirations. The show reached 1 billion viewers per episode, a feat impossible in today’s polarized content environment. But with an extensive casting call that doubles as a promotional event, Fox is hoping to grab some early attention and tempt even some of the original’s viewers to return to the sand.

14,000 people submitted reels and headshots, of which only 2,000 were invited to audition. Hundreds of people flew across the country and took 45 seconds to read a few lines of dialogue. Among the people gathered outside the hotel was a mother and daughter from Colorado with no acting experience. A math tutor who self-diagnoses a “midlife crisis.” An influencer who didn’t know about Baywatch until she saw the casting call. A woman wearing white face paint frankly explains, “I’m a clown.”

“All of this is not normal,” says reboot star Stephen Amell as he mingles with potential future co-stars.

“I’ve been acting for a while and I’ve always been told, ‘You’re too blonde, your breasts are too big,'” says Athena Vas, a bodybuilder and winner of Season 2 of The Bachelor. She turned around and showed me the back of her swimsuit, which had her name engraved on it. “So this is the perfect role.”

A 77-year-old woman named Margaret “BB” Dupre, who wears a pink cowboy hat, a studded black corset and fingerless gloves, served as Anderson’s stand-in in the original series (“I was the one where Pamela didn’t get her hair wet”). Her business card has a photo of her in a swimsuit and says “Painter/Sculptor/Writer/Psychic.”

Not everyone lining up to the hotel is a beach-ready bodybuilder. “I think lifeguards need moms and neighbors and fruit-store vendors,” says improv actor Dennis Koch, who wears a parasol, blouse, overshirt and leggings.

The series is scheduled to begin filming in March, and the opportunities are wide open. Producers are considering casting lifeguards, barflies, extras and even series regulars. “We have a whole season’s worth of people on the beach that we have to save,” showrunner Matt Nix told me. Some roles are yet to be written. “As I was walking through the lobby, I thought, ‘Oh, wait a minute. I never thought about this character, I just saw three people,'” Nix says. “I literally texted the casting director at Fox.”

For many, “Baywatch” 2.0 represents more than just a reboot, it represents a bold bet on a Los Angeles that has yet to fully recover from the coronavirus, strikes and fires. (For a visual, drive down the Pacific Coast Highway and watch the waves crash against the charred bones of a beach house that looks like an ancient ruin.) Previous attempts to revive “Baywatch” had been scheduled for filming in South Africa or Australia, but thanks to a $21.1 million California tax credit, the show will be filmed in Venice Beach.

“L.A. has been hit really hard,” said David Chokachi, who will return as Cody Madison in the reboot. “It’s like putting a paddle on the street. You know, defib.”

As for the tone of the new series, Knicks insists the reboot isn’t offensive. “We never make fun of the original,” says McG, who directed the pilot. “A zeitgeist like “Baywatch” is beyond reproach.” He brings up “Top Gun: Maverick” as a guide for how to pay homage to nostalgic IP with a blockbuster vision.

By late afternoon it was windy and cold as 20 casting directors auditioned thousands of actors. Members of the press will not be allowed to pass through the metal detectors that lead to the waiting room. In the waiting room, hundreds of actors – behind black curtains – wait for their chance at Hollywood stardom. If you impress the first casting director, you move on to the next round. Finally, if you’re lucky, you might even get to do a reading for the Baywatch producers.

After the event, I met a teenager named Dane Duda. He was visibly upset as he came out of the audition venue. “Oh my god,” he says. “It went really well. They loved me!”

His friend Elle Evan Casselman has never acted, but has “SAG Card” written on her name. “My parents got married in Las Vegas on November 11, two weeks after they met, so they named me Elle Evan,” she told me. “Say it quickly!”

Casselman and Duda met for the first time today, two weeks after their mother “yelled” at each other in the doctor’s office waiting room. The mothers swapped their children’s TikTok handles.

“I left the room with a smile on my face knowing I gave it my all,” Casselman says of the audition. “At the end of the day, that’s all I can do.”

Duda agreed: “And God helped us. God is on our side.”

Sadly, they are sent home dog-paddled.

As you watch over-the-top actors eating chicken wraps in the Marriott lobby, you quickly feel like you’ve seen enough heartbreak in one day. But as the sun begins to set over the marina, you can’t help but wonder what’s going on behind closed doors. What if the next Baywatch star was right in front of them all along? Maybe I, a writer who hates cameras and has never appeared in many school plays, is the prince who has been blessed with the sunshine I was promised.

On a strange impulse, I turned and stalked toward a private area of ​​the hotel, weighing my options. Crew members stand guard and patrol the hallways. I looked in the trash and found a crumpled up sticker: Contestant 00937. I hid my press pass, applied the sticker, and quietly passed through the gate.

Hundreds of actors sit anxiously, reciting their lines as if to themselves. A tanned gentleman holds up his cellphone to take a selfie while a sheepadoodle with a ring buoy runs into the room, adjusting the angle so that both nipples are in the frame.

I sit next to a handsome 24-year-old Penn Badgley type guy from Myrtle Beach. “I’m Logan Polson,” he says. “Which part are you reading?”

I do the same thing that great actors do: I improvise and say, “I forgot my character’s name. I lost my paper.”

Another actor named Alex turned around and held out his side to me. “I’m off the books,” he smiled. “Anthony Hopkins style”

“Let’s read a book,” Logan says, pushing me on the shoulder, sensing I’m over the edge. “I’m glad you came, dude.”

Suddenly, I was a lifeguard on the verge of a breakdown.

ethan
That man slipped from my grasp. I watched him sink. logan
And I caught him and he was fine! So you made a mistake!

I’m not made for the beach and Logan is telling me to take me off the shelf.

logan
Think about the people who will be hurt if you quit. what about them?

His face lights up. He’s not looking at the page.

Ethan looked at Logan and smiled. Their eyes meet. ethan
So this is about people in an imaginary future that I’m trying to save? logan
(takes Ethan’s hand)
Well, they’re not the only ones.

My heart races as I snap out of my reverie. “Good job, dude,” Logan says. And for a moment, I believe him. Feeling the warm glow of the event coordinator brings a smile to your face.

“They’re ready for you.”

And at that moment I realized that I had drifted far away into the ocean.