CASTING NOW
HOPE/ESPERANZA
Feature Film

Storyline: When an unmoored American teen expecting a semester in Europe is sent instead to rural Costa Rica, she’s forced to confront culture shock, rigid authority, and her own assumptions. An unexpected romance with a Nicaraguan immigrant helps her redefine what freedom, belonging, and “hope” really mean.

HOPE/ESPERANZA

• Female
• Age: 18+ to play 17
• White
• Lead Role
• A sharp, punk-loving American teen who feels suffocated by suburban conformity and low expectations. Sarcastic and defensive on the surface, Hope masks a deep sensitivity and hunger for a bigger life. When she becomes Esperanza in Costa Rica, she’s stripped of language, control, and privilege, forcing her to confront fear, shame, and growth head-on. There are implied, non-graphic, character-driven intimacy scenes. Must be comfortable doing scenes in Spanish.

DANIEL

• Male
• Age: 19
• Latinx
• Supporting Role
• A calm, self-possessed Nicaraguan immigrant working as a baker in Costa Rica. Daniel is quietly confident, kind, and emotionally grounded, shaped by displacement and hard work rather than bitterness. He stands in contrast to the aggressive masculinity around him—protective without being possessive, strong without bravado. A natural romantic presence, he offers Hope safety and perspective. The actor should convey depth, warmth, and restraint, with much of the character’s strength communicated nonverbally. There are implied, non-graphic, character-driven intimacy scenes. To stay in keeping with the story we would like to cast a Nicaraguan actor who is a native Spanish speaker for the role.

SHARON SHERMAN

• Female
• Age: Mid 40s-early 50s
• White
• Supporting Role
• Hope’s working-class American mother—practical, anxious, and deeply loving, though often emotionally misaligned with her daughter. Sharon equates stability with survival and pushes a conventional path as protection, shaped by her own sacrifices and limited options. While she can come across as controlling or dismissive, her care is constant and sincere. The role calls for nuance: a woman doing her best within the boundaries she’s learned to trust, not a caricature of small-mindedness.

CELIA

• Female
• Age: Mid 40s
• Latinx
• Support Role
• A formidable, devout Costa Rican woman who rules her household with strict discipline and emotional restraint. Having given up her own ambitions to raise her niece after her sister’s death, Celia clings to control as a means of survival. She is distrustful of foreigners, deeply religious, and quick to punish perceived disrespect, yet beneath her severity lies grief, fear, and buried longing. The actor must balance authority and vulnerability, revealing a complex woman whose harshness is rooted in love and loss, not cruelty. Must be a native Spanish speaker, the role is solely in Spanish.

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