Tonight we shall dine in Asgard! … if it’s still open by the time we get to the front of the queue. That surely is what some of the thousands of people who lined up in Dublin for The Vikings casting call are thinking today. Last week the hugely popular History Channel show – which is filmed in Ireland – put out the call for 8,000 extras. As Joe.ie reports, the show needs thousands of adults “from all ethnic backgrounds with varying levels of hairiness and haircuts,” not just bearded hipsters (of which there are many in Dublin). For instance, “men and women with punk style haircuts” and “sporty types” who are over six feet tall are specifically required. Well, it looks like the show’s producers are not going to have any trouble. This morning the city’s trendy Temple Bar district was overrun with a long, long, long line of beardy, scruffy types, each anxious to wear battle armor, wield axes, and scream a lot.
The show’s Facebook page offered a list of the sorts of appearances and skills it needs to fill crowd scenes. “In terms of specific skills or appearances we are after Fishermen, Metal Workers, Carpenters, Craftspeople, Farmworkers, Axe Men/Women, Skilled swords people, M&F Archers, Bowmen & Women, M&F Rowers, M&F Sailors, Ship hands & Deckhands, Calligraphers, Latin Speakers, Musicians, Midwives, Nurses, Animal Handlers, Hunters, Blacksmiths, Lumber Jacks, Tree Surgeons, Whittlers, Males with long hair and Beards, Over 6ft sporty types, No visible tattoos, Women with naturally coloured hair, all men prepared to grow hair and beards, Men and women with punk style haircuts. This is far from a definitive list but it gives you an idea of how broad our search is so have a think beforehand and bring as much information about yourself as you can.” There haven’t been this many Vikings in Dublin since … well, since the real Norsemen arrived over a thousand years ago.
