Read The Casting Call For Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Video
The “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video provided the definitive image of Nirvana and the ’90s alt-rock boom at large. It’s one of the most iconic music videos ever made, casting Nirvana as the entertainment at a high school pep rally populated with anarchist cheerleaders and a janitor prone to mop-dancing. Now All That Is Interesting (via CoS) has shed some light on how it was made. Below, find director Samuel Bayer’s casting call for the video, which summons fans ages 18-25 to Stage 6 at GMT Studios in Culver City, California on 8/17/91. They’re instructed to adopt a high-school “personna” (sic) and be ready to stay for several hours. Reading this unexpected artifact is a lot more fun than being an extra, and it requires a lot less patience.
And of course you’ll want to watch the video again now: