ねずみの嫁入り (The Espousal of the Rat’s Daughter)

Production Company
Throughline Film Foundation
Producer(s)
Sebastian Belmont
Casting Director(s): 
Anglica Lockyer
Union Status
Non-Union
Project Type
Film
Student Production
No
Compensation Details

Paid production. Compensation will be discussed directly with selected actors based on the role, production requirements. All rates will be agreed upon before contracts are finalized.

Audition Date(s)
2027
Audition Location
Vancouver
Shoot / Performance Date(s)
mid 2027
Shoot / Performance Location(s)
Vancouver
Submission Deadline
Saturday, October 3, 2026
Submission Instructions

Please follow the submission instructions carefully. Incomplete, incorrectly labelled, or disorganized submissions may not be reviewed.

EMAIL SUBJECT LINE
Your subject line must include both the project title and the role you are submitting for: Nezumi no Yomeiri – [ROLE NAME]
Example: Nezumi no Yomeiri – Rat’s Daughter

HEADSHOTS / PHOTOS
Please attach current photographs or professional headshots.
All image files must be clearly labelled using the following format: FirstName_LastName_Role
Example: Aiko_Tanaka_RatsDaughter.jpg

Please send images as JPG or PNG files of approximately 1–5 MB each. Please do not send extremely large, uncompressed image files.

DEMO REEL
If you have a demo reel, please include a link to it in your submission. Vimeo, YouTube, casting-profile or personal website links are preferred rather than large video attachments.

ACTOR REQUIREMENTS
For the roles being cast, we are seeking actors of Japanese background/heritage.
Actors must be able to perform in both Japanese and English, as the film will be shot in both languages and performances will be recorded in Japanese and English.
Please clearly state your level of fluency in both languages in your submission.

MAJOR ASSETS
Training or professional experience in the following is a significant asset:
Kabuki theatre
Mask performance / mask work
Traditional or highly physical forms of Japanese performance
Movement-based performance
If you have Kabuki, mask, movement or related performance training, please describe it briefly and include it on your résumé.

PLEASE INCLUDE
Your submission should contain:
Full name
Role you are submitting for
Current headshot(s)
Acting résumé
Japanese and English language proficiency
Demo reel link, if available
Details of any Kabuki, mask or movement training
Current Vancouver/Lower Mainland location or availability to work in Vancouver

Please ensure your materials are organized and clearly labelled before submitting. We receive a high volume of correspondence, and emails that do not identify the project and role clearly, contain unlabelled attachments, or otherwise do not follow the submission instructions may not have their materials reviewed.

Email: Info@throughlinefilmfoundation.com

Project Synopsis
ねずみの嫁入り (Nezumi no Yomeiri) — The Espousal of the Rat’s Daughter — is a short-film adaptation of the traditional Japanese folktale. The story follows a rat father who is determined to find the most powerful possible husband for his daughter. His search leads him from the Sun, to the Cloud, to the Wind, to the Wall, as each reveals that there is always something more powerful than themselves. Ultimately, the journey brings him back to his own kind and to a different understanding of strength, suitability and belonging.
Additional Information & Safety Protocols: 

Throughline Film Foundation is committed to maintaining a professional, respectful and safe working environment throughout rehearsals and production.

Any physical performance, movement work, mask work or other specialized performance requirements will be discussed with actors in advance and appropriately rehearsed before filming. Performers will not be expected to undertake physical work outside their stated abilities or training.

Where costumes, masks, wigs, prosthetics or specialized makeup are required, appropriate fitting and preparation time will be provided. Actors should advise production in advance of any allergies, sensitivities, accessibility requirements or other considerations relevant to their work on set.

Any scenes involving staged physical contact, choreographed action or similar performance requirements will be planned and communicated in advance. Consent and professional boundaries will be respected throughout the production process.

Actors will receive appropriate breaks, access to drinking water and on-set refreshments, and production will follow applicable British Columbia workplace and production-safety requirements.

The project is being developed in consultation with Japanese cultural advisors, and performers are encouraged to raise cultural, linguistic or historical concerns with the production team. We want actors to be active collaborators in maintaining the integrity of both the Japanese- and English-language versions of the film.

Specific safety requirements, shooting conditions and any specialized performance elements will be communicated to selected actors before contracts are finalized and again before the relevant rehearsal or filming day.

Character 1
MR. NEDZUMI / MR. RAT
Age
40-60
Gender
Male
Description
Male-presenting | Adult | Japanese heritage | Japanese & English required A prosperous and exceptionally self-important rat who takes enormous pride in his ancestry, social standing and family. Mr. Rat adores his only daughter, Yuki, and becomes determined that she should marry the most powerful person in the world. His ambition drives the story as he leads his wife and daughter from the Sun, to the Cloud, to the Wind and finally to the Wall, only to discover that his own rat family may be more powerful than any of them. The role requires strong comic timing, authority, warmth and the ability to play heightened formality sincerely rather than as parody. Experience with Kabuki, mask performance, physical theatre or highly stylized performance is a major asset.
Character 2
MRS. NEDZUMI / MADAME RAT
Age
35-60
Gender
Female
Description
Female-presenting | Adult | Japanese heritage | Japanese & English required Mr. Rat's wife and Yuki's mother. Mrs. Rat accompanies her husband and daughter throughout their increasingly difficult search for the world's most powerful husband. She shares some of her husband's pride in the family's status, but is also observant, practical and willing to form her own opinions. When the supposedly fearsome Wind finally arrives appearing gentle and good-humoured, she is the one who cautions against judging someone's character based entirely on what others have said. The performer should bring warmth, composure, dry humour and a strong sense of family relationship to the role. Experience with Kabuki, mask work, physical theatre or traditional Japanese performance is a major asset.
Character 3
O YUKI SAN / YUKI
Age
18-20's
Gender
Female
Description
Female-presenting | Young Adult | Japanese heritage | Japanese & English required The only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rat. Yuki is renowned throughout the province for her extraordinary beauty and is described as peerless white, receiving the name Yuki because of her resemblance to pure snow. Her father's ambition to secure the greatest possible marriage for her sends the family on an exhausting journey in search of the most powerful being in the world. Yuki is not simply a passive conclusion to her father's search. At the end of the story, she makes her own decision and declares that she intends to marry her cousin. The role requires emotional clarity, expressive physical performance and the ability to communicate character through both dialogue and reaction. Experience with Kabuki, mask performance, dance or movement-based theatre is a major asset.
Character 4
THE OLD PRIEST
Age
40s–70s
Gender
Male
Description
Male-presenting | Older Adult | Japanese heritage | Japanese & English required An elderly priest at a celebrated temple near Mr. Rat's village and an old acquaintance of the family. The Priest knows Mr. Rat well, including his self-importance and weaknesses, and has unsuccessfully tried to teach him the virtue of humility. When Mr. Rat asks where he might find a sufficiently distinguished husband for Yuki, the Priest directs him toward His Majesty the Sun. The role calls for intelligence, restraint, gentle humour and the sense that the Priest understands considerably more about Mr. Rat than Mr. Rat understands about himself.
Character 5
HIS MAJESTY THE SUN
Age
20-30
Gender
Male
Description
Male-presenting | Adult | Japanese heritage | Japanese & English required Regal, magnificent and treated with enormous ceremony. Mr. Rat initially believes the Sun must be the most powerful being in the world. The Sun receives the marriage proposal graciously but explains that the Cloud can cover his face and prevent his light from reaching the world. He therefore directs the family toward someone he considers more powerful than himself. This is a heightened, highly visual role requiring presence, vocal command and controlled physical performance. Kabuki, mask work, dance, movement training or other stylized theatrical experience is a major asset.
Additional Characters

THE CLOUD
Male-presenting | Adult | Japanese heritage | Japanese & English required
A grand and courteous figure encountered by the family on the slopes of a mountain.
The Cloud acknowledges having the power to obscure the Sun, but explains that the Wind can drive him across the earth and is therefore more powerful.
The character should possess an elegant, fluid physical quality while retaining the formal status and theatrical scale of the story.
Kabuki, mask performance, dance and strong movement training are major assets

HIS MAJESTY THE WIND
Male-presenting | Adult | Japanese heritage | Japanese & English required
Initially described to the family as immensely powerful and potentially short-tempered, the Wind surprises them by arriving from across the sea in excellent humour and appearing remarkably gentle.
The Wind rejects the suggestion that he is the strongest being in the world and directs the family toward the great Wall in their own village.
The role requires exceptional physical expressiveness and the ability to embody both gentleness and enormous elemental force.
Strong movement training is highly desirable. Kabuki, mask work, dance, physical theatre or related performance training is a major asset.

MR. WALL / THE WALL
Male-presenting | Adult | Japanese heritage | Japanese & English required
The great wall near Mr. Rat's home, identified by the Wind as something even stronger than himself.
Mr. Wall is imposing but also distinctly comic and inquisitive. Because one side of his face cannot see what is happening on the other, he is described as being perpetually curious about events around him.
When Mr. Rat tells him that the Wind considers him the strongest being in the world, the Wall dismisses the idea and reveals that Mr. Rat's own nephew recently gnawed a hole straight through him.
The role offers significant opportunities for mask, movement and stylized physical performance.
Kabuki, mask performance and physical theatre experience are major assets.

Male-presenting | Young Adult | Japanese heritage | Japanese & English required

Mr. Rat's nephew and Yuki's cousin.

Although he is not directly encountered during the family's journey in the original story, he becomes crucial to its conclusion. The Wall reveals that the Brown Rat recently gnawed directly through him rather than going around, inadvertently proving himself more powerful than the supposedly mighty Wall.
One month later, Yuki declares her determination to marry her cousin, and her parents consent.
The extent of the role will depend on the final screenplay and visual adaptation.
Experience with Kabuki, mask performance, physical theatre, dance or movement-based performance is a major asset.