Casting Director Sarah Finn Reunites With Martin McDonagh on Wild Horse Nine
Sarah Finn, the casting director who has assembled every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Iron Man in 2008, is working with writer-director Martin McDonagh again. Her latest project is Searchlight Pictures' Wild Horse Nine, according to Variety.
Casting directors find the actors who fill each role, and they often work on a film long before the cameras roll. Finn's credits include Everything Everywhere All at Once, the 2019 remake of The Lion King and the food-truck comedy Chef. Her work on Wild Horse Nine brings her back to McDonagh, whom she worked with on Seven Psychopaths.
The film is set shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup. Two CIA agents, Chris and Lee, are sent from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ, played by Steve Buscemi. John Malkovich plays Chris, and Sam Rockwell plays Lee.
Rockwell has worked with McDonagh before, on Seven Psychopaths and earlier on one of McDonagh's plays. Variety reported that link as part of its account of the casting. McDonagh also met with Malkovich to talk through the character and the role, the same outlet reported.
Malkovich described Chris as a world-weary, itinerant CIA officer in an interview published by Audacy on 4 November. He gave the interview while passing through New York. In it, he spoke about the film and his part in it.
Finn has been talking publicly about the job in recent weeks. In an interview with Backstage, published on 19 October, she discussed how the film's cast came together. Her conversation with Variety covered her process for casting the film and the audition of Chadwick Boseman.
Searchlight's website lists Wild Horse Nine with a 2026 release date. The studio has not, in the material reviewed here, announced a more specific date.
For casting watchers, the story is the pairing. A casting director who has spent years on large franchise films is returning to a smaller, character-led project with a director she has worked with before. Finn's choices, and McDonagh's, will shape who audiences see on screen when the film opens.
