Amblin Entertainment is having an open casting call for the lead role of Edgardo Mortara in the studio’s upcoming film “The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.”

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"The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara" (Photo: Business Wire)

The casting call is set for Sunday, January 29 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at American Jewish University, Colen Conference Hall, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles, 90077. Parking is available in Lot 3. Sign-in begins at 10 a.m. Please only bring one family member with you and a recent photo to leave behind.

Casting directors will be looking for a male, between the ages of 6 and 9. They are looking for someone truly special, gifted, curious and intelligent with a mischievous streak to portray a Jewish and Italian boy. No accent needed. The film will shoot in Europe beginning April, 2017.

Steven Spielberg will direct the film which has been adapted for the screen by two time Oscar nominated screenwriter and Pulitzer Prize-winner Tony Kushner. Academy Award winner Mark Rylance will star in the historical drama based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Kertzer. The project also reunites the Academy Award nominated “Bridge of Spies” producing team of Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger.

Published in 1997, “The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara” recounts the story of a young Jewish boy in Bologna, Italy in 1858 who, having been secretly baptized, is forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents’ struggle to free their son becomes part of a larger political battle that pits the Papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification.

If you cannot attend this open call or want to attend in another city, visit http://www.castittalent.com/TKOEM. Those with questions are welcome to email childcastingsearch@gmail.com.