THE MENSCH - Feature Film - Seeking NEW MEXICO locals

THE MENSCH

SAG-AFTRA LBA

Director: David Ethan Shapiro.

Writers: David Ethan Shapiro, Melanie Shaw

Producers include Michael Schreiber (Plus One, with Jack Quaid and Maya Erskine), John Humber (Touch Me, an official selection of Sundance and SXSW, and Hypochondriac), Ross Kagan Marks

Casting: Eisenberg Casting (Daryl Eisenberg, CSA)

Casting Assistant: Joey Bermudez 

Shoot: o/a October 26 - November 20, 2026

Location: Las Cruces, New Mexico

Rate: SAG Scale

Daily Rate: $834/day

Weekly Rate: $2896/week

TO SUBMIT AS A NEW MEXICO LOCAL HIRE: Email recent photo and performing resume if available to mensch@ebcastingco.com

Subject Line: NM Local - The Mensch - [insert Role here]

Logline: A dark comedy-thriller about a rabbi whose faith in G-d—and in herself—is tested when she loses a priceless Holocaust-era Torah—forcing her into a wild, one-night odyssey of biblical proportions to retrieve it, confront a rising wave of extremism and save her community.

SEEKING NEW MEXICO LOCAL HIRES:

SHEILA ROSEN: 50s-60s, female. Sara's deceased mother, still painfully present in her daughter's inner life. Sheila first appears as the cutting, belittling voice Sara cannot shake: funny, cruel, needy, and shaped by addiction. As the story unfolds, she becomes capable of remorse and tenderness. The role must hold both the damage she caused and the possibility of a gentler connection, without erasing either. SUPPORTING. 5 days. 

MURIEL COHEN: 34, female. Temple president and Isaac's stepmother. Immaculately certain of her own standards, Muriel polices behavior, reputation, and belonging with a smile that can sting. She sees the synagogue as something to manage and Sara as a problem to solve. Her comic force comes from complete social confidence, while her treatment of Isaac exposes the cost of that control. SUPPORTING. 5 days.  

RABBI BENJAMIN SCHWARZ: Late 30s-40s, male. An El Paso rabbi with an easy smile, a media-friendly manner, and a talent for looking like the answer to everyone's problems. Schwarz offers polish and expansion where Sara offers uncertainty and uncomfortable honesty. His charm shades into condescension, and his composure becomes less secure when the community stops following his script. LEAD. 5 days.

CADDY/CAIN: late 20s, male. A wiry local dealer whose country-club hustle gives Sara and Esther their first practical lead. He moves from smooth transactions to frantic damage control after the drug money turns out to be coupons, then becomes part of the Philistines' pursuit. Blunt, literal, anxious, and unexpectedly funny, he is quick to puncture Saul's grandiosity even when the danger is real. SUPPORTING. 9 days. 

SAUL: 20s-30s, male. The volatile leader of the Philistines, a ragged dealer-and-punk-band operation whose bruised ego can become genuinely dangerous. Saul is theatrical, impulsive, controlling, and desperate to preserve the group's money and mythology. His threats are real, but also require sharp dark- comic timing. SUPPORTING. 4 days.

FRY: Late 30s-40s, white, male. Haman's intimidating lieutenant, welcoming host, and devoted enforcer. Fry can make a newcomer feel admitted to a special circle, then reveal how dangerous belonging to that circle is. His forcefulness collapses into eager vulnerability around Haman. That need for approval makes his violence more disturbing than simple bravado. SUPPORTING. 4 days. 

LENA MEISLIN: 18+ to look 16, female. A teenage congregant testing boundaries and trying to seem more worldly than she is. Lena can be dismissive and evasive, especially when Sara finds her somewhere she should not be, but she is also quick-thinking and brave. She helps turn a dangerous encounter and later speaks for Sara when the adults hesitate. Play the contradiction between adolescent armor and an emerging moral confidence. SUPPORTING. 6 days. 

ISAAC COHEN: 13, male. Muriel's stepson, a boy who uses mischief and bravado to survive constant correction. Food, embarrassment, and his approaching religious responsibilities become battlegrounds with the adults around him. In a private conversation with Sara, his defenses give way to genuine hurt and curiosity. By the end he finds the courage to challenge Muriel rather than simply provoke her. SUPPORTING. 4 days.

CACTUS: 20s-30s, white, male. A blue-haired courier whose casual sports chatter can turn abruptly into ugly prejudice. Cactus is combative when he feels in control and terrified when that confidence fails him. His entanglement with Haman exposes dependency, panic, and the desire to be accepted. The humor should feel ordinary and recognizable before it becomes threatening. SUPPORTING. 3 days. 

CONGRESSWOMAN MADDIE GRANT: 40s, female. A polished public figure whose practiced warmth conceals a far more cynical private politics. Grant knows how to sound reassuring, command a room, and convert fear into applause. Her public respectability gives cover to the extremist gathering, but her composure is tested when the performance of control stops working. SUPPORTING. 2 days. 

DENNIS: 40s, male. A golf-technology store owner who wants another chance with Esther after lying about being Jewish on JDate. Awkward, hopeful, and persistent, Dennis becomes more useful than either of them expects. His technical help and willingness to put himself in danger let real loyalty emerge beneath the romantic embarrassment. SUPPORTING. 4 days.

OFFICER AHIGA: 40s, Navajo, male. A steady, loyal presence at the synagogue who treats Sara with kindness rather than suspicion. After the attack, Ahiga carries guilt about having left when she told him to go. He is observant, understated, and able to act decisively when confusion threatens to become violence. SUPPORTING. 4 days. 

RIVKAH: 80s, female. Esther's mother. Rivkah welcomes Sara with food, warmth, and an understanding of her daughter that Esther does not always welcome. She carries the family's Holocaust history without making every exchange ceremonial. Her quiet authority becomes important when the congregation must decide whether to stand with Sara. SUPPORTING. 2 days. 

MRS. FELDMAN: 40s-50s, female. A grieving shiva host trying to do right by the person she has lost. Mrs. Feldman worries about religious obligation and whether she was present enough when it mattered. Her insistence on the correct ritual is not mere fussiness: it is grief looking for something concrete to hold. Sara's compassion allows the scene to soften. DAY PLAYER. 1 day.

BRENDA: 40s-50s, white, female. An ordinary local person whose frustration about money and housing is being drawn into a politics of blame. Brenda is less theatrically certain than the loudest voices in the room; hesitation and the need to belong are central. Her exchanges with Sara briefly open a possibility of being heard without scapegoating someone else. SUPPORTING. 2 days. 

JERRY: 40s-50s, white, male. A forceful, combative participant in the extremist gathering, quick to present grievance as certainty. Jerry can sound like someone airing familiar frustrations before revealing the hatred underneath, briefly engaging with Sara's appeal, then helping turn the room against her. The danger lies in how readily ordinary conversation becomes accusation. SUPPORTING. 2 days.

BOUNCER: 30s-40s, white, male. A vaping gatekeeper who appears at Club 30 and later at the diner. Bored authority can become sudden aggression; a brief confrontation with Dennis becomes physical. The same recognizable presence connects the locations. DAY PLAYER. 4 days.

DISHEVELED MAN: late 20s, male. Gaunt and jittery, he initially seems to need Sara's help and prayer. That apparent vulnerability turns into a frighteningly cold act of antisemitic violence. His later presence among apparently ordinary people is part of the threat: the attack is not disconnected from the surrounding community. DAY PLAYER. 3 days. 

GOLIATH: 20s-40s, male. An imposing, mostly silent presence in the dealer group. Tattoo work, restraint, pursuit, and sudden physical force are part of the role. His stillness matters as much as his size. The August screenplay gives him no spoken line or required accent. FEATURED NON-SPEAKING. 4 days.