page_title: Life of Pi (film)
section_title: Pre-production and casting
hierarchical_section_title: Life of Pi (film) / Production / Pre-production and casting
caption_attribution_description: English: Suraj Sharma at the press conference of Ang Lee's Life Of Pi (2012) at New Delhi.
context_page_description: Life of Pi is a 2012 adventure drama film based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the same name. Directed by Ang Lee, the film's adapted screenplay was written by David Magee, and it stars Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Tabu, Adil Hussain, and Gérard Depardieu. The storyline revolves around an Indian man named "Pi" Patel, telling a novelist about his life story, and how at 16 he survives a shipwreck and is adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. The film began development shortly after the release of the book, and would see directors M. Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuarón and Jean-Pierre Jeunet involved at various stages before the hiring of Lee. The film was shot between India, Taiwan and Montreal, Quebec in 2011, with Rhythm & Hues Studios handling the visual effects work. The film had its worldwide premiere as the opening film of the 51st New York Film Festival at both the Walter Reade Theater and Alice Tully Hall in New York City on September 28, 2012.
  Life of Pi emerged as a critical and commercial success, earning over US$609 million worldwide.
context_section_description: After 3,000 young men auditioned for the film's lead, in October 2010 Lee cast Suraj Sharma, a 17-year-old student and an acting newcomer. Upon receiving the role, Sharma underwent extensive training in ocean survival, as well as in yoga and meditation practices to prepare for the part. Two months after Sharma was cast, it was announced that Gérard Depardieu would play the role of the Cook, Irrfan Khan would play the adult Pi, Adil Hussain would play Pi's father, while Tabu was in talks to play the role of Pi's mother.
  Canadian actor Rajiv Surendra, who had played a small part in Mean Girls, was one of the auditioners for the role of Pi. In 2016, he published The Elephants in My Backyard, a memoir of his failed campaign to win the part. In an interview with Deccan Chronicle in 2017, American actor Naren Weiss revealed that he too unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Pi.
  In April 2011, it was announced that Tobey Maguire would be joining the film in the role originally referred to as "a reporter." However, in September 2012, it was announced that Lee had cut Maguire from the film. He justified the cut by stating that he did it "to be consistent with the other casting choices made for the film, I decided to go with an entirely international cast." Like Shahrukh Khan, Lee described Maguire's presence also as "too jarringly recognizable." He reshot the scenes with Rafe Spall in the role of the book's actual author.
caption: Suraj Sharma plays Pi at age 16.
exif: {"Image Software": "Picasa", "Image DateTime": "2013:03:12 03:52:25", "Image Artist": "Picasa", "Image ExifOffset": "96", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "4501:01:01 00:00:00", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "264", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "325", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "585", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "881", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "228", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "6110965ebe90b5a25b2599372366a496"}