CASTING IN CALGARY
The Abandons series with Gillian Anderson
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On December 4, 2025, the series "The Abandons" starring Gillian Anderson, premiered on Netflix.
Today, we'll go back a year and a half and tell you about how we auditioned for this project. Read this post to the end to find out where we were eventually invited and why we turned it down.
When we saw an online advert for a Netflix series being cast in Calgary, we weren't entirely surprised, as Alberta's incredible natural beauty attracts many filmmakers worldwide. Take DiCaprio's "The Revenant," for example, where every frame features an Alberta landmark. Forget about "The Revenant," here's a short list of blockbusters filmed here, as revealed by Google: "Predator", "Interstellar", "Legends of the Fall", "Brokeback Mountain", "Unforgiven". Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey have been announced as the stars of the upcoming series.
Could I have imagined in 1997, while watching a video cassette of “The X-Files” rented by the day at home in Kharkiv, that just 27 years later, I would be in Canada auditioning for a project with Dana Scully herself, played by Gillian Anderson in the series alongside David Duchovny? Of course not! But that's how the pieces of history fit together.
We didn't know much about Lena Headey, but her list of projects was impressive: “The Devil's Advocate”, “300”, “Game of Thrones”. In short, we decided to take a trip to Calgary and attend the casting call. On Saturday morning, we drove up to the hotel listed in the ad, but there was such a crowd that we couldn't find parking for the car within several blocks. After leaving the car, we went to find the end of the endless line of people and took our place in line.
According to my calculations, there were more than three thousand candidates waiting in line to take part in the filming.
The queue twisted, wound and circled around the hotel, which everyone so wanted to get into.
A few hours of waiting and we were already at the coveted entrance, where our great film career was sure to begin ;-)
Some employees of the agency that organized the casting carried sample instructions for completing the registration on the website. People took photos of these instructions, and I did the same.
And here we are inside. It was clear that the hotel's operations were practically paralyzed by so many visitors. I imagine guests might have experienced some inconvenience during their stay that day.
The line ran from the hall into a long corridor, and a horse greeted us at the door, as if hinting at something. But more on that later.
My legs were already numb from hours of standing. But with filming, paydays, and fans ahead, I had to keep my cool! My inner trepidation subdued, we were at the coveted door to the room where they cast future movie stars.
The two girls standing with their backs to us in the photo are doormens at the gates of cinematic paradise, whose permission allows you into the world of this film industry. They invited those waiting in the hallway into the hall in small groups and directed them to tables where forms were laid out for them to fill out.
The questionnaire was filled out quickly. I immediately remembered the bronze horse standing in the hotel lobby, because among the lists of necessary skills, it was necessary to assign points from 1 to 10 in several areas, the main one being the ability to ride well, that is, to be an experienced rider. I optimistically gave myself two points, because many years ago, in Kiev's Pirogovo Park, I rode a horse for about thirty meters, and I also had a scary experience on the way to the Limon waterfall in the Dominican Republic. In general, our chances of participating in the series were significantly reduced, as we were not very familiar with horse riding.
With the questionnaire filled out, we stood in a new queue, now for a photo session.
In the far corner of the hall, three photographers were working, handing out numbers to the casting attendees and taking photos from several angles.
After seeing our photographer, we wrapped up the casting and went for a walk in Big Hill Springs Park, which we'll tell you more about in the future. After a pleasant stroll through the park, we headed home.
At home, we filled out the missing information on the website according to the instructions and began to wait...
Unfortunately, we were not selected for the series The Abandons. However, six months later, in October, we each received an invitation to participate in five days of filming for another series. It was so nice and inspiring, but unfortunately, we had to turn down the offer due to my accident: I fell into a hole and tore my Achilles tendon, and then in September I had surgery to reattach it. After such an operation, people are bedridden and unable to walk for four months, so we informed the agents that we would not be able to accept their offer. However, we can now proudly tell everyone that we were invited to shoot in a series, but we proudly declined because we are waiting for a more attractive financial offer ;-)
P.S. Now it's much more interesting for us to watch the series The Abandons, because in addition to the familiar landscapes of Alberta, when you look at any of the extras, you think, “That could have been my role.”
