In 2009, Gaspar Noé was casting his most ambitious film yet. He picked someone with no desire to be an actor
In 2009, Gaspar Noé cast Nathaniel Brown, who had no interest in acting, as the lead in *Enter the Void*. The film follows a drug dealer who is killed by police and then watches events from an out-of-body perspective, with the camera often trailing him from behind; Noé wanted someone who would not mind having his face rarely shown.
Noé met Brown a week before filming, while Brown was working at American Apparel and hoping to direct music videos. Brown left his job to travel to Japan for the shoot, which Noé described as an accelerated film-school experience. Since then, Brown has worked as a director in fashion and music and collaborated with Kanye West.
In short
- Gaspar Noé cast aspiring music-video director Nathaniel Brown in *Enter the Void*.
- The film often shows its lead from behind.
- Brown left his American Apparel job to film in Japan.
Explained simply
Gaspar Noé is a French film director known for visually unconventional films. In Enter the Void, he tells the story of a young drug dealer in Tokyo, using a camera perspective that follows the character after his death.
Nathaniel Brown was not an established actor when Noé cast him. He was working at clothing company American Apparel and hoped to make music videos, while the film’s approach meant the lead character’s face would often be out of view.
The film brought Brown into filmmaking through an unusually immersive role, and he later worked as a director in fashion and music. His path helps explain why Noé’s casting choice was notable: Brown’s ambitions lay behind the camera rather than in acting.