ONLINE HED: Lake-Area Woman Helps Cast Captain Phillips
Pirate
Mother
Watertown’s Lynn Younglove
helps cast Captain Phillips and forms bond with the four young actors.
“I call them my pirates,” Lynn Younglove says, laughing. That’s what she calls them now, but that’s where the story ends. The story begins with a call from a friend in Hollywood.
Younglove, who lives in Watertown, worked on several films in the early 1990s, when Minnesota was a relative hotbed for feature film activity. Her credits include work on Grumpier Old Men, Jingle All the Way, and Feeling Minnesota. Since then, she has worked a variety of jobs, but less in the film industry. Until her Los Angeles friend Debbie Delisi (a Minnesota native) called her up looking for help casting Oscar-nominated movie Captain Phillips.
The casting parameters from director Paul Greengrass were pretty straightforward: He was looking for four men who were fluent in Somali and unknown in the film industry. Knowing that Minneapolis has the largest population of Somali residents in the world outside of Somalia itself, Delisi called Younglove to help her with the casting search.
“We started walking around Minneapolis, eating soup in African restaurants,” Younglove says. “If a man walked in, we said, ‘Are you Somali? Can you show up at our casting?’ ”
They set up a casting call at a local community center hoping for 200 to 300 people. Nearly 900 showed up. At this point they—like everyone else—had no idea who Barkhad Abdi, the actor who snagged the role of lead pirate and went on to receive an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, was. They had no idea who Faysal Ahmed, Mahat Ali and Barkhad Abdirahman—the men who went on to play the other three pirates—were. All Younglove and Delisi knew was that there were 871 potential actors they had to somehow narrow down to four. And that didn’t include the auditions in other states. In total, they auditioned over 2,000 actors.
The casting duo filmed each actor answering a few simple questions and narrowed the list to 148. With the help of Greengrass, the list was then narrowed to 42. Then, for three weeks, Younglove and Delisi worked with 42 men learning lines and trying to figure out who the four best were. Eventually Younglove suggested she and Delisi each choose their four favorites and see if they matched; they did. And they both chose Abdi, Ahmed, Ali and Abdirahman.
“You can’t really describe what you are looking for,” Younglove says. “It’s just an ‘it’ factor and a presence on screen that you want to watch more of.”
After the four had been selected, Younglove thought her job was done. She had been called as a casting consultant, and the casting was complete. However, Delisi needed to leave for New York to work on the Coen brothers’ movie Inside Llewyn Davis, which thrust Younglove into the role of impromptu casting liaison for Captain Phillips.
She scheduled doctors’ appointments for the actors. Enrolled them in swimming lessons. Acquired working visas and documents for travel, as shooting began in Malta. At this point, Younglove had formed an incredibly close bond with the four actors. She was basically their movie mother.
The day the men finally flew out for filming, she handed each actor a $100 bill, gave them a hug, and, like any good pirate mother, asked them to call her when they arrived. They called three hours later.
They were still in the airport, unable to board the plane. Younglove called the gate attendant, who told her she would not allow four Somali men with $100 bills in their pockets to board a plane to Europe. It was blatant profiling, but Younglove was stuck. She called her contacts in Malta, but they were all asleep because of the time difference. Younglove went to bed, unsure what to do.
The next morning, she woke up to 29 missed calls and 50 emails, including one from Greengrass with the subject line “WAKE LYNN UP.” Inside it simply said “I don’t care what it takes, get Lynn and those boys on a plane to Malta today.”
Just like that, Younglove went from what she expected to be a straightforward casting job to spending two weeks in Malta and helping four of the stars of one of the biggest movies of 2013 adjust to their new lives. (And yes, she got to meet Tom Hanks. “He is just as you would expect him to be—funny and charming,” she says.)
She came back to the United States, walked the red carpet with her pirates at the New York premiere and watched in awe as the accolades rolled in.
“After watching it, I was in shock just because I know these guys so well, and they are so sweet and funny and nice,” Younglove says. “When I was sitting there in New York in the audience I was like ‘Who are those guys?’ They shocked me. They did an amazing job.”
Yep, those are Younglove’s pirates. //
On the Red Carpet
The Plot
Captain Phillips is an engrossing adventure film detailing the hijacking of the MV Maersk Alabama, a U.S. cargo ship, off the coast of east Africa in 2009. The movie depicts the hostile takeover of the ship by a small but fierce band of Somali pirates, as well as the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips and his crew by Navy SEALS. The film is based on the 2010 book by Phillips and co-author Stephan Talty, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS and Dangerous Days at Sea.
The movie was filmed in several locations including Malta, Morocco and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The Players
Tom Hanks as Captain Richard Phillips
Barkhad Abdi as Muse, the ringleader of the Somali pirates
Barkhad Abdirahman as Bilal, a pirate
Faysal Ahmed as Najee, a pirate
Catherine Keener as Andrea Phillips, wife of Richard Phillips
Directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Identity, United 93)
The Envelope, Please
Captain Phillips received a great deal of attention during the 2014 awards season, both in terms of nominations and awards. A few are listed below:
Academy Awards (nominations)
★ Best Picture
★ Best Performance by an Actor in a ★ Supporting Role: Barkhad Abdi 12 Years a Slave won for Best Picture
Golden Globes (nominations)
★ Best Motion Picture
★ Best Performance by an Actor: Tom Hanks
★ Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Barkhad Abdi
★ Best Director: Paul Greengrass
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
★ Barkhad Abdi won for Best Supporting Actor
MTV Movie Awards
★ Barkhad Abdi was nominated for “Best Villain” for his portrayal of Muse
Film Facts
Actor Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) was one of the executive producers of Captain Phillips
Lynn Younglove is listed on the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) page for Captain Phillips as a casting associate (Minnesota).
Barkhad Abdirahman, Lynn Younglove, Mahat Ali and stunt coordinators for the film take a break from the action.
Lynn Younglove and “her pirates” relax in Malta. From left, Mahat Ali, Younglove, Barkhad Abdirahman and Faysal Ahmed. Not pictured, Barkhad Abdi.
“I call them my pirates,” Lynn Younglove says, laughing. That’s what she calls them now, but that’s where the story ends. The story begins with a call from a friend in Hollywood.
Younglove, who lives in Watertown, worked on several films in the early 1990s, when Minnesota was a relative hotbed for feature film activity. Her credits include work on Grumpier Old Men, Jingle All the Way, and Feeling Minnesota. Since then, she has worked a variety of jobs, but less in the film industry. Until her Los Angeles friend Debbie Delisi (a Minnesota native) called her up looking for help casting Oscar-nominated movie Captain Phillips.
The casting parameters from director Paul Greengrass were pretty straightforward: He was looking for four men who were fluent in Somali and unknown in the film industry. Knowing that Minneapolis has the largest population of Somali residents in the world outside of Somalia itself, Delisi called Younglove to help her with the casting search.
“We started walking around Minneapolis, eating soup in African restaurants,” Younglove says. “If a man walked in, we said, ‘Are you Somali? Can you show up at our casting?’ ”
They set up a casting call at a local community center hoping for 200 to 300 people. Nearly 900 showed up. At this point they—like everyone else—had no idea who Barkhad Abdi, the actor who snagged the role of lead pirate and went on to receive an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, was. They had no idea who Faysal Ahmed, Mahat Ali and Barkhad Abdirahman—the men who went on to play the other three pirates—were. All Younglove and Delisi knew was that there were 871 potential actors they had to somehow narrow down to four. And that didn’t include the auditions in other states. In total, they auditioned over 2,000 actors.
The casting duo filmed each actor answering a few simple questions and narrowed the list to 148. With the help of Greengrass, the list was then narrowed to 42. Then, for three weeks, Younglove and Delisi worked with 42 men learning lines and trying to figure out who the four best were. Eventually Younglove suggested she and Delisi each choose their four favorites and see if they matched; they did. And they both chose Abdi, Ahmed, Ali and Abdirahman.
“You can’t really describe what you are looking for,” Younglove says. “It’s just an ‘it’ factor and a presence on screen that you want to watch more of.”
After the four had been selected, Younglove thought her job was done. She had been called as a casting consultant, and the casting was complete. However, Delisi needed to leave for New York to work on the Coen brothers’ movie Inside Llewyn Davis, which thrust Younglove into the role of impromptu casting liaison for Captain Phillips.
She scheduled doctors’ appointments for the actors. Enrolled them in swimming lessons. Acquired working visas and documents for travel, as shooting began in Malta. At this point, Younglove had formed an incredibly close bond with the four actors. She was basically their movie mother.
The day the men finally flew out for filming, she handed each actor a $100 bill, gave them a hug, and, like any good pirate mother, asked them to call her when they arrived. They called three hours later.
They were still in the airport, unable to board the plane. Younglove called the gate attendant, who told her she would not allow four Somali men with $100 bills in their pockets to board a plane to Europe. It was blatant profiling, but Younglove was stuck. She called her contacts in Malta, but they were all asleep because of the time difference. Younglove went to bed, unsure what to do.
The next morning, she woke up to 29 missed calls and 50 emails, including one from Greengrass with the subject line “WAKE LYNN UP.” Inside it simply said “I don’t care what it takes, get Lynn and those boys on a plane to Malta today.”
Just like that, Younglove went from what she expected to be a straightforward casting job to spending two weeks in Malta and helping four of the stars of one of the biggest movies of 2013 adjust to their new lives. (And yes, she got to meet Tom Hanks. “He is just as you would expect him to be—funny and charming,” she says.)
She came back to the United States, walked the red carpet with her pirates at the New York premiere and watched in awe as the accolades rolled in.
“After watching it, I was in shock just because I know these guys so well, and they are so sweet and funny and nice,” Younglove says. “When I was sitting there in New York in the audience I was like ‘Who are those guys?’ They shocked me. They did an amazing job.”
Yep, those are Younglove’s pirates.
On the Red Carpet
The Plot
Captain Phillips is an engrossing adventure film detailing the hijacking of the MV Maersk Alabama, a U.S. cargo ship, off the coast of east Africa in 2009. The movie depicts the hostile takeover of the ship by a small but fierce band of Somali pirates, as well as the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips and his crew by Navy SEALS. The film is based on the 2010 book by Phillips and co-author Stephan Talty, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS and Dangerous Days at Sea.
The movie was filmed in several locations including Malta, Morocco and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The Players
Tom Hanks as Captain Richard Phillips
Barkhad Abdi as Muse, the ringleader of the Somali pirates
Barkhad Abdirahman as Bilal, a pirate
Faysal Ahmed as Najee, a pirate
Catherine Keener as Andrea Phillips, wife of Richard Phillips
Directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Identity, United 93)
The Envelope, Please
Captain Phillips received a great deal of attention during the 2014 awards season, both in terms of nominations and awards. A few are listed below:
Academy Awards (nominations)
★ Best Picture
★ Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Barkhad Abdi 12 Years a Slave won for Best Picture
Golden Globes (nominations)
★ Best Motion Picture
★ Best Performance by an Actor: Tom Hanks
★ Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Barkhad Abdi
★ Best Director: Paul Greengrass
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
★ Barkhad Abdi won for Best Supporting Actor
MTV Movie Awards
★ Barkhad Abdi was nominated for “Best Villain” for his portrayal of Muse
Film Facts
Actor Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) was one of the executive producers of Captain Phillips
Lynn Younglove is listed on the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) page for Captain Phillips as a casting associate (Minnesota).
Barkhad Abdirahman, Lynn Younglove, Mahat Ali and stunt coordinators for the film take a break from the action.
Lynn Younglove and “her pirates” relax in Malta. From left, Mahat Ali, Younglove, Barkhad Abdirahman and Faysal Ahmed. Not pictured, Barkhad Abdi.
