• Clint Eastwood stars as Walt Kowalski in the Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures drama "Gran Torino."Photo by Courtesy of Warner Bros., Anthony Michael Rivetti
• (From left) Father Janovich (Christopher Carley), Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) and local Michigan actors: the bartender (Greg Trzaskoma), Mel (Tom Mahard) and Darrell (Davis Gloff) in "Gran Torino". This scene was filmed at the VFW Hall, Post 6756, in Centerline.Photo by Courtesy of Warner Bros., Anthony Michael Rivetti
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Kathy Mooney’s vices are tequila and cigarettes.

Janet Pound doesn’t drink or smoke, but her vice is sleeping.

Mooney is a Buddhist.

Pound is a Baha'i.

“I gained weight,” Mooney says.

“I lost weight. There was no time to eat, it was fabulous,” Pound says. “We’re Mutt and Jeff. We’re polar opposites in so many ways.”

“But we complement each other, which is why this works so well,” Mooney added.

According to Pound, they also laugh their butts off, which is a very good thing in the competitive world of film and television production.

Subscribing to the theory that opposites attract, the two hooked up in May to form Pound & Mooney Casting in Madison Heights. Call them up if you need principal actors for film and television or, in very special cases, extras like in the film “Gran Torino,” which opens nationally today.Mooney has been a Michigan casting agent for more than 20 years. Pound was a talent agent at Affiliated Group in Southfield and The I Group in Southfield for eight years. Before that, she was a Screen Actors Guild actress for 20 years.The two hit the ground running by casting four films simultaneously: “Youth in Revolt,” “Gran Torino,” “Whip It!” and “The Butterfly Effect: Revelation.”

When the state’s film incentives passed in April, the Michigan Film Office was flooded with applications from around the world.

The incentive is enticing: Spend at least $50,000 in Michigan and get up to a 42 percent tax credit. Of the 134 applications submitted to the film office last year, 72 projects were approved and 29 films, including television pilots and made-for-TV documentaries, were completed.

On Christmas Day, “Gran Torino” became the first feature film to be released under the incentive, starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, followed by “The Butterfly Effect: Revelation.” Pound & Mooney cast 17 principal actors for the film, which opens tonight with a Detroit premiere at the AMC Forum 30 in Sterling Heights. The local release party for the “Gran Torino” was held at Forte and the Birmingham 8 Theater, on Dec. 16.

Plans are in the works for a TV-watching premiere party for “Prayers for Bobby,” starring Sigourney Weaver, which will air on Lifetime on Jan. 24. The film was shot in and around the Royal Oak area this summer. Pound & Mooney cast 30 principals.

Rosie O’Donnell’s “America,” also on Lifetime, comes out Feb. 28. “Gifted Hands,” starring Cuba Gooding Jr. will also air in February on TNT, followed by the HBO series “HUNG,” tentatively slated for June.

“Films can be an instrument for tourism promotion,” said Michigan Film Commissioner Janet Lockwood. “It’s certainly my hope that what people see in these movies will encourage them to come to Michigan — not just to see where it was filmed but also to see Michigan.”

Lockwood, of the film office, says the “Gran Torino” production spent more than $10 million here during its 33-day schedule over the summer.

“Clint finished shooting two days early — nobody finishes two days early, but he did. He doesn’t waste time,” Lockwood said. “Clint is such a fan of the new incentive; he thinks it’s terrific — that’s what brought him to Michigan. If you have it, they will come. Now, we need to build a couple of studios and Michigan will truly be a more valuable location for shooting — 12 months, year-round.”

For “Gran Torino,” Pound & Mooney cast 30 Michigan-based actors for principal speaking roles and 500 extras, including about 75 from the Hmong community in Michigan, a central element to the film’s storyline. Pound’s daughter Molly and Cedric Lee helped with extras.

“Clint Eastwood was very specific about wanting Hmong members — not Vietnamese or Cambodian,” Pound said. “The challenge was that there really aren’t any trained Hmong actors in Michigan and there was a language barrier. We brought in people who didn’t speak English and we had to teach them how to audition, how to act.”

But Pound & Mooney does what it takes to get the right person for the right role, which, in this case, meant scouting for talent at a national Hmong soccer tournament, held in Michigan; scoping out men with Mohawks at tattoo parlors to play hippies in Drew Barrymore’s upcoming film, “Whip It!” (Pound & Mooney cast 23 principals); or holding auditions for a stripper role at a topless bar for the upcoming film “Demoted,” starring Sean Astin.

"Pound & Mooney are the Cagney and Lacey of Michigan. They get the job done,” said Tim Moore, executive producer of “Gran Torino.”

While many people who are cast in films are seasoned, trained actors, others can be curious movie lovers — being an extra for the sheer novelty. Like Matt Ciaramitaro, who Pound found to play a non-speaking detective in “Gran Torino.”

“I wear a suit and tie everyday, so I thought I’d be comfortable playing the role, and when I heard it was a Clint Eastwood movie, he’s a legend, so I said yes,” said Ciaramitaro, his Berkley company, Ciara Systems, provides technology consulting to small- and medium-sized professional services firms.

In fact, on the day that Ciaramitaro made his film debut, he left his client to report to the film set in Highland Park at 7 p.m., wearing the same suit he wears in the movie. The costumer just switched his shirt.

For five hours of work, he was paid $75.

“I can’t imagine people making a living being an extra. With taxes and everything taken out, I got about $60,” said Ciaramitaro, whose kids think he looks like an Italian mobster. “It was much less profitable than a good day at work, but I’d consider doing it again, depending on the role or the movie.”