Today's Artemis Fowl auditions moved from Schull to ‘secret' Cork city venue

THE much-publicised auditions for the role of Artemis Fowl in the new Disney movie, that were due to take place in Schull today, have been moved at the last minute to Cork city.

A number of parents contacted the Southern Star today to say that they had received emails this morning, saying there would be no more auditions in Schull.

The email goes on to say that the auditions will now be held in Cork, but that if interested, the casting firm will email the applicant.

‘We have gone from open auditions in Schull to what appears to be invite-only auditions – in Cork city,’ one angry parent said. ‘I cannot drive to Cork today, and I don’t know where the venue is anyway, and my child is very disappointed now,’ they added.

However, Fastnet Film Festival vice-chair Hilary McCarthy said that the casting company had been inundated and realised they needed to move the casting to the city centre.

'They had over 2,000 emails. They saw over 70 people here yesterday. But they have given us the application forms for anyone who turns up today and a short script. They can film their audition on their phones and send it in with the form,' she told The Southern Star. 'Then they will have as good a chance as anybody.'

When contacted by The Southern Star, a spokesperson for Lucy Bevan Casting in London, said a decision had been made to move the auditions because the company was ‘inundated with emails’ when the Schull event was publicised in recent weeks.

The movie is the screen version of Irish novelist Eoin Colfer’s popular fantasy series Artemis Fowl, and it is being produced by Robert de Niro and directed by Kenneth Branagh.

In a blaze of publicity in recent weeks, the public were informed that they should contact a London-based casting company, who were searching for a boy to play the lead role. The auditions were to be held in Schull, to coincide with the opening of the Fastnet Film Festival this week.

However, it now appears the auditions, which began yesterday, have been moved to the city, to facilitate a larger crowd.

‘We are trying to see as many people as we can,’ said a Lucy Bevan spokesperson, who added that Lucy and her assistant Emily Brockmann were in Cork city today at the auditions.

‘We have emailed who we can, but we are not able to get through to everybody,’ the spokesperson added, and offered apologies to anyone who was travelling to Schull today, unaware the auditions had been moved at the last minute.

When asked where the new venue in Cork was, the spokesperson said she was not at liberty to reveal it.

‘Disney will not allow us speak about the production, so we are unable to talk to the press about this,’ she added.

Ms McCarthy said she would have the application forms available at the Fastnet Film Festival office in Schull for the duration of the festival. 'There will also be auditions in Galway and Dublin,' she added.