Polanski Seeks Pianist

If you're aged between 25-35, a dab hand with the piano and you're looking for a career which involves overseas travel, we may have the job for you. Director Roman Polanski is searching for a leading man for his next movie who embodies these features. An open audition will be held next week (30 September 2000) in London and anyone meeting the above criteria is welcome. An advert publicising the open audition was placed in the Guardian newspaper and organisers at The Actor's Centre in London's Covent Garden expect to be inundated with fame seekers. Casting agent Celestia Fox explains that the role - the lead in Polanski's next film The Pianist - is based on the tale of Polish composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, who was saved from the concentration camps of Nazi Germany by a German officer who appreciated the boy's musical talents. The story, she says, 'is so close to Polanski's own experience... he feels that there is someone out there, and not necessarily an actor who embodies what he feels about Szpilman.' Anyone hoping to catch the director himself at the auditions will be disappointed. Polanski hasn't visited the UK since 1978 for fear he will be extradited to America for the alleged rape of a 13 year old girl that took place in LA in 1977.