Casting the Ocean

Short Film BENEATH THE WAVES Features Local Perth Surfers Over Actors

Western Australian surfers Kris Felix and Higin Prazmo Ⓒ Presidential Productions

March, 2018 — For Beneath the Waves, authenticity was not simply an aesthetic preference, it was a foundational principle. In developing the dialogue-free short film, writer-director James Cunningham made the deliberate decision to cast local Western Australian surfers rather than trained actors, prioritising physical truth over conventional performance technique.

Introducing the film's stars Higin Prazmo and Kris Felix both experienced surfers with no prior screen acting backgrounds. Both were discovered through a lengthy audition process which saw the director meet with a number of local surfers in the community about appearing in the film. Felix is a local surfing coach, while Prazmo works as a tradesman. Their familiarity with the ocean and physical discipline became central to the film’s credibility and emotional texture.

Higin Prazmo at rehearsals for Beneath the Waves Ⓒ Presidential Productions

“Surfing is not something that can be convincingly simulated,” Cunningham noted during development. “The way a body moves in water, the confidence or hesitation, the relationship to risk; those things are lived, not learned.”

Because Beneath the Waves unfolds entirely without dialogue, performance is carried through body language, rhythm, and physical proximity. Small gestures - hesitation before paddling out, the distance maintained on land, moments of cooperation or avoidance- form the film’s emotional vocabulary.

Felix and Prazmo worked closely with Cunningham throughout rehearsals to develop this physical language. Sessions focused on surf choreography, movement and spatial awareness, as well as preparation for an intimate communal shower scene that plays a pivotal role in the film. Rehearsals also addressed the emotional beats of the brothers’ relationship, ensuring that narrative progression could be read visually.

Kris Felix at rehearsals for Beneath the Waves Ⓒ Presidential Productions

The casting approach reflects Cunningham’s broader interest in masculinity stripped of performance. Rather than presenting overt conflict, the brothers’ dynamic is understated and persistent, emerging gradually through repetition and shared experience. By casting non-actors with lived experience in the environment the film inhabits, Beneath the Waves strives to achieve a naturalism that aligns with its restrained storytelling ethos; allowing authenticity rather than exposition to carry the weight of the narrative.

Beneath the Waves is currently in pre-production, for more information visit presproductionsco.com

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