Casting agent Paul Rowland reimagines Premier Model Management’s new faces in a short film and photo series inspired by the Juggalos
- TextTed Stansfield
The Juggalos are one of the most vilified musical subcultures around. They’re known for their outlandish face paint, their style (which riffs on 90s hip hop – think Tupac and Biggie Smalls), and their music which represents an amalgamation of antithetical genres: goth, punk, gangsta rap, rave, nu-metal, and real metal. They famously gather every year for a two-day festival in Michigan known as The Gathering of the Juggalos (though it has also been referred to as the “horror-rap equivalent of the Hajj”), where they get high and listen to Slipknot.
It’s these misfits that inspired a new short film and photo series created by legendary casting agent Paul Rowland and shot by Boldizsár CR, which showcases Premier Model Management’s most exciting new faces – boys who are poised to hit the catwalk at London Fashion Week Men’s. Subcultures have always fascinated Rowland so it made sense for him to reimagine these male modelling ingenues as members of one. Here, alongside the film and an accompanying photo series, he talks us through his five favourite new faces, explaining what makes them so special.
On Huddie...
“He’s major, that kid. He’s a quintessential English cool kid. I remember him having an incredibly proportionate body. He’s a painter and a really interesting kid, very intellectual.”
On Guy...
“Guy is a footballer and one of those classically beautiful kids that you can turn into something interesting. He really understood what we were doing and really embodied this spirit of being a bad kid.”
On Kit...
“He’s a cool, ethereal kid. He’s beautiful, but it was his persona that got me. He’s also a painter and a musician too.”
On George...
“His face... He’s so photographic. He loves to play football and is an avid gamer. He was the perfect fit for what we were trying to do.”
On Alex...
“He’s like the jock that went bad. I loved how proportionate his face was – so aquiline. He’s got a very confident personality too. He does a bit of casting on the side actually.”
Film Direction Boldizsar CR; Creative direction Paul Rowland; Styling Andrew Glover; Hair Cathy Ennis; Make-up Janeen Witherspoon; Models George Gell, Lawrence Freeman, Amos, Safari, Guy Taylor, Kit, Vivien, Joseph Griffin at Premier; Film direction assistant Benjamin Whitley; Make-up assistant Ellie Tobin; Music Leon Jean-Marie.
