From TA Interview:Talks About Casting Lina Instead of a Boy

[abner_mohl]

http://www.horrorphile.net/exclusive-qa ... fredson/4/

Horrorphile: Both Kåre Hedebrant as Oskar and Lina Leandersson as Eli are extraordinary, delivering beautiful nuances in body language and facial expression (however, Oskar isn’t tubby as he is in the novel). In the screenplay Lindqvist removed Eli’s explanation to Oskar about his gender; in the movie there is only one very brief moment when you see Eli (after kissing Oskar) appearing like a grown man and revealing to the audience his true hidden self. Was it a conscious decision from you and Lindqvist to sustain Oskar’s notion (and the audience’s deception) that Eli is a girl, which is why you cast a pretty girl instead of an androgynous boy?

Tomas Alfredson: Yes it’s it was a conscious decision – if we had emphasised this fact it would easily have been the main topic, a sort of “young gay love” theme. To me Eli is androgynous, and a non-sexual creature. We cast both girls and boys for the part and I was obviously looking for someone like Lina, who gave a stunning performance.

[covenant6452]

Time to gush....again!
I've said it before, I'll say it again...there will never be another Eli in my minds eye, ever. I honestly don't think the film would have had the same impact for me, and possibly for a great portion of us here, if they had used anyone else other than Lina.
I do feel the same way about Kare as well, both leads are so well cast that I'm sure any deviation would have meant a divergence in the timelines and right now a load of us would be walking around convetion centres with no shirt on, calling ourselves "Jacob"'s.
There are so many near-perfect things happening in the construction of this film, the casting of both characters being IMO the major near-perfect thing,...after the story of course.
Though I know they were looking at both boys and girls for the role, when they first saw Lina I can imagine someone important to the process with a long list of children's names on a clipboard wrapping a double circle of bright red ink around her name as soon as she stood up and smiled. (Seriously, I was gushy like this before I saw the photo of Lina holding my drawing! No, really! Ask Tapetrve!)
Even now when I watch the film, (I've got it down to a few times a week now rather than a day.) I still am amazed at how in nearly every scene she looks like the same person, yet slightly different. Every angle, every shot, it's a different Eli but the same person. Is it just me who thinks this?

[gattoparde59]

I still am amazed at how in nearly every scene she looks like the same person, yet slightly different. Every angle, every shot, it's a different Eli but the same person. Is it just me who thinks this?

Yeah, I think so to. I am not sure if it was deliberate but it fits the character perfectly.

[abner_mohl]

Part of it I think is the subtle use of CGI with manipulating Lina's face, which TA has mentioned in several interviews at least with changing the size of her eyes, especially in the courtyard scene where she doubles over in pain from hunger after Oskar leaves, and when she climbed up the tree before attacking Virginia. I wonder if other scenes are just practical effects like lighting and makeup.

[moonvibe34]

Lina's Eli is definetly a prism of a character with many sides of the same form. LTROI is certainly a wonderful, interesting, deep, masterfully woven tale but it was indeed Kåre and Lina who drew me into its emotional depths with their "near-perfect" portrayals. I will always be grateful for their Oskar and Eli.

[EEA]

I agree. Both of them gave great performances.

[abner_mohl]

This is a picture of Lina that I have never seen before from the Italian LTROI site and comparing it with the other classic shot of Lina, her eyes look larger, which of course TA said they digitally manipulated her eyes, and must account for Lina looking different in certain parts of the movie.

[TΛPETRVE]

Wow, that is probably the most boyish picture of Elina I've ever seen.

[abner_mohl]

Even now when I watch the film, (I've got it down to a few times a week now rather than a day.) I still am amazed at how in nearly every scene she looks like the same person, yet slightly different. Every angle, every shot, it's a different Eli but the same person. Is it just me who thinks this?

About a minute into the video TA says that they used CGI to alter the size of Lina's eyes and the geometry of her face during her different stages of hunger:

[wolfshadow]

Attack cats aside (just cause that was funny), the CGI manipulation of her eyes was probably one of the few times where I think CGI has helped a live action film that wasn't primarily CGI anyway, like Spiderman. It helped to add some depth to the sense of things being somewhat alien about Eli, which for this film was a very good thing.

As to the gender of the person playing Eli, I'm still of the opinion that a boy could have done it well enough, but since we already have Lina's performance to compare, finding said person would likely be impossible.

And Covenant, you deserve to gush as much as you want. =)