With only 60 IMDb users having seen this flick at the time of writing, I think it's safe to say that not many people are aware of its existence. This is a shame as 'Actress Wanted' has a lot going for it, mainly in the story department. It tells a rather unique tale with a rather compelling character in the mysterious Mr. Vu. While it plays like a straight drama for much of its rather short runtime, there are enough moments sprinkled throughout that let you know there's more going on than meets the eye. Indeed, you're never quite sure if the core premise is sweet or creepy, which keeps you engaged throughout. What lets the film down quite a bit, though, is its production. It clearly has a low budget but it's the directors second feature, and it feels very much like a student production. There's some choppy editing and the cinematography is rather basic, but the biggest issue is some of the performances. The film has a mixture of English and Vietnamese, with two of the main characters, including the protagonist, speaking a mixture of both. Whenever English is being spoken in this film, the performances are awful. It's not even a case of the actors' English not being very strong; they're clearly fluent in the language. The line delivery is just terrible. Now, I can't speak Vietnamese so perhaps that had something to do with it, but when these actors speak in that language, the performances seem absolutely fine. Whenever English is being spoken though, it's quite frankly hard to watch. Overall, 'Actress Wanted' is worth the watch for its interesting narrative if you can get past its 'student film' vibe and occasional cringe-inducing performances. 6/10.
