“Adolescence” co-creator Jack Thorne’s adaptation of “Lord of the Flies” remains largely faithful to William Golding’s 1954 novel. The series, a co-production between Sony Pictures Television’s Eleven Films (which makes it eligible for the Primetime Emmys) and the BBC, follows a group of boys who become stranded on an island in the early 1950s following a plane crash. The boys are a mix of “little ’uns” and the “big ‘uns”, ranging in age from 5-6 and pre-teens. Thorne’s adaptation is divided into four chapters unfolding through the perspectives of its main characters: Piggy (David McKenna), Jack (Lox Pratt), Simon (Ike Talbut) and Ralph (Winston Sawyers).
Nina Gold ,who recently landed an Oscar nomination for casting “Hamnet,” teamed up with fellow casting director Martin Ware to assemble the cast of more than 30 boys. Like many, they had read the book in secondary school and re-read it again, but this time, they started with the script. Knowing that each episode focused on a particular point of view helped them get into the head of each child.
No stranger to casting young kids, the search was wide. Gold’s team sought children from schools, drama groups, acting groups, and even social media. The one exception was “no girls.”
