Luci Lenox is an award-winning casting director based in Spain with a diverse professional background and international experience. She has cast over 100 productions for clients such as Netflix, Amazon, MediaPro and various Spanish independent producers, and her work has resulted in over 250 awards at international film festivals. In addition to her work as a casting director, Luci is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion in the industry and has served on the board of the CSA and the diversity and inclusion committees for both the CSA and APDICE. She is also a member of the Catalan and European Film Academies, CSA, ICDN, and APDICE, and has participated in panels and juries at film festivals such as Sitges, the London Film Festival, and Cannes. Luci's passion for her work as a casting director is evident in her commitment to finding and supporting talented actors from around the world.

Can you speak about how you became a casting director? Was it always something you wanted to do?

LUCI: Casting basically found me rather than it ever being part of my life plan.  I’d worked in many different jobs and then got a job in production at a Catalan production company, and I met Pep Armengol, an amazing casting director and he needed someone who spoke English for a job so I assisted him.  I discovered a job that was absolutely perfect for me and then one job led to another and then another and twenty-five years later I still love my job and find it interesting and challenging. 

You are originally from Ireland but now live in Spain. How did you end up there? And can you speak about the Spanish film industry niche you have found there? 

LUCI: I am very much a product of my time and generation.  I studied Spanish at university and spent a year abroad in Barcelona which was a life-changing experience. This was back in the 80s and Barcelona was just getting ready for the Olympics and was full of opportunities and I met an amazing range of people.  Then when I graduated there was a world-wide recession and I struggled to find a job so decided to move back to Barcelona for a while until the economy improved mainly because a friend offered me an apartment for a very cheap rent, which is ironic given the current housing crisis.  I never planned on spending my whole life here but here I still am.  

LUCI CONT’D: The Spanish film industry has grown from strength to strength and just keeps getting better.  I’ve been extremely lucky to have been a part of this positive growth.  So many international productions have chosen to shoot in Spain, and I have definitely been in the right place at the right time. I love that I’ve been able to work with auteur filmmakers like Juanma Bajo Ulloa as well as for almost all the major studios and platforms and have been involved in the casting of productions from not only the States but also Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Sweden, the UK, etc.  who have all shot here. 

What do you find most challenging about being a casting director?  

LUCI: The most challenging part for me is the best part that every project presents a new set of challenges that have to resolved.  Every role is a challenge.  The only thing I find challenging in a negative way is managing the fact that we continually break actors’ hearts.  Every actor who casts would love the role a

Director Shoshannah Stern makes her feature debut with a moving, intimate portrait of Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin in the aptly titled Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (which I reviewed out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival). The film is right now playing at the Tribeca Festival, and I was fortunate to be able to chat […]