Wanted on ‘Z Nation’: Good snarls and a thirst for brains

Rule No. 1 for being a zombie extra on the show “Z Nation” – think Dawn of the Dead, not Frankenstein’s Monster.

Luckily, the lumbering, straight-armed lurch of the latter was nowhere to be found Saturday, as undead hopefuls stumbled, staggered and strutted their stuff before a panel of casting directors for the hit TV show.

“I tend to roll my feet a lot, like I have broken ankles,” Ladonna Wojtowicz said.

She’s been an extra for all three previous seasons of “Z Nation,” and knew that uniqueness is valued. She was back Saturday at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture to audition for season four, which films in Spokane this summer.

The main thing people don’t realize is that being an extra can be a lot of work, Wojtowicz said. “It’s long days and it’s usually hot and you’re sweaty,” she said.

It’s a feather in the city’s cap that Spokane has its own zombie TV show, said fellow three-season extra Ron Ford. “It’s a blast,” he said.

There’s no real secret to being a zombie, Ford said. “Like any acting, it’s being committed, going for it and staying in focus,” he said.

Victoria Gatts is in charge of castings extras, humans and zombies alike, and said they’re not just looking for creative zombie walks. “We’re looking for the same qualities in a good employee anywhere,” she said.

People should be willing and have a good spirit, she said. “There’s a lot of crazy things we’re going to ask you to do,” she added, a bit ominously.

Endurance is also important. Extras could be sent home after two hours or they could be asked to stalk a field for 14 hours at a stretch, all under the hot sun.

“Z Nation” creator Karl Schaefer calls Gatts his zombie whisperer. “More like the zombie yeller,” he said.

Schaefer said he has never had a problem finding extras for his show. If he wants permission to use someone’s property for filming, a lot of the time one of the conditions is that they or a relative or a friend be cast in the show as an extra.

“People love us here,” he said. “Our first zombie audition we had 800 people show up. We were expecting maybe 50. There’s something about zombies. It’s such a fun thing to do.”

The show will be filming at the museum this summer, as well as at the old Kaiser plant in Mead and in Hillyard. Browne’s Addition is featured as a “Zona,” a zombie-free enclave for billionaires.

There are different auditioning times for those with previous experience and those new to the show.

The difference could be seen while watching the groups audition. Experience manifested as manic energy, actors twisting their faces, contorting their bodies and growling like mad things as they chased live bodies around the grounds.

Gatts said she and others were particularly impressed by the audition of a 93-year-old woman Saturday morning who had an excellent zombie snarl. “She was great,” Gatts said.

Kevin Kleinworth was one of the new auditioners. He did some previous work in movies in the 1990s and now wants to get back into it.

“I was a stand-in for Randy Quaid,” he said. “I worked with Tony Danza and Adam Baldwin. I loved it. I saw this opportunity and jumped on it.”

Kleinworth said he didn’t do anything special to come up with his zombie walk. “My kids said I’m pretty goofy, so they said just to be myself,” he said. “I do this kind of stuff around the house to make them laugh.”