Alberta's Digital Doubles

Andrew Hanon with Sun Media has a story on some Albertan men's unique acting contributions to the upcoming feature film The Assassination of Jesse James:

When Brad Pitt and an army of movie makers invaded the province to film The Assassination of Jesse James, they were determined to make the western epic as realistic as possible.

One critical problem: The legendary outlaw was missing half a finger. Pitt, who plays the titular character, has a perfect 10.

That’s where Louise Mackiewicz comes in. As the movie’s extras casting director, it was her job to find so-called “hand doubles,” people whose hands will be filmed in the place of Pitt’s whenever a close-up of them is necessary.

Calgary-based Mackiewicz had to find a man who was missing half of his left middle finger, and who would be ready on short notice to work for a day or two here and there as needed.

As it turns out, she tracked down five who fit the bill, two in Edmonton and three in Calgary.

“We were really hoping to find a local hand double,” Mackiewicz said yesterday, moments after signing the two Edmontonians at a casting call on a south side soundstage.

She wasn’t allowed to reveal their names.

Having hand doubles in both cities means producers don’t have to pay for travel and accommodation.

Historians can’t agree on how Jesse James lost half a finger. Most say he got careless and shot it off himself, while others say he lost it in a gunfight.

In a film about an outlaw gunfighter, I'd say their contributions are pretty important!