Netflix has put out a casting call, searching for actors and actresses to be featured in their latest western drama series that is set to film in Calgary and area. 

“The Abandons,” starring Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey, will be filming in Calgary and surrounding areas from May 14 until mid-October. 

Headey is most famous for her role in Game of Thrones. According to an article by Netflix, she will play “Fiona Nolan, a strong-willed matriarch who adopts four orphans and will stop at nothing to protect her family.” 

Her counterpart, Anderson, is most famous for her roles in Sex Education, The Crown, and The X-Files. She will play “a very different, strong-willed matriarch, Constance Van Ness, who will stop at nothing to protect and grow the mining fortune she inherited from her husband and then doubled.” 

In a post on X by Keep Alberta Rolling, it stated that the 1850s Western TV series is searching for "authentic looks." 

“We are looking for unique character faces, hard-working types, blue collar looks, blacksmiths, rancher types, labourer types, butchers, upscale affluent looks, and amputees,” it states in the X post. 

The casting call is open to men, women, and children of all ethnicities between the ages of 8 and 80. 

The casting call will be held in person at the Double Tree by Hilton Calgary (2120 16 Avenue N.E) in the Cascade Room on Saturday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Casting callCasting call poster for The Abandons. 

If you are unable to attend the casting call but are interested in potentially being involved, you can email a current photo of yourself and your contact information to abandons.extras@gmail.com. 

In a rural, traditionally blue-collar community like Strathmore, there is no shortage of people that match the casting call description, and this could be some Strathmore residents' time to shine on the big screen. 

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