had never acted before. Elsley said "It's very important to us that the kids are not seasoned professionals" in keeping with UK version where most had no prior acting experience. James Newman, who plays Tony Snyder, was urged to audition for Skins by his older brother. Newman missed the audition but attended a later audition where he won the role. Ron Mustafaa, who plays Abbud Siddiqui, went to the open call for the show because his mother was a big fan of Dev Patel (who plays Abbud's UK Skins equivalent), Anwar, and wanted Mustafaa to "be the next Slumdog." Filming The show production began in mid 2010 in Toronto, changed from the initially planned location of Baltimore. Reception Critical response Metacritic gives the series a weighted average score of 57% based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". James Poniewozik of Time magazine concluded that the show is tamer than the British original, but believes if the controversial subject matter leaves parents reaching for antacid, then the show is doing its job. Although the show is raunchy, Poniewozik judges Skins to have "more sweetness than snarky teen soaps like Gossip Girl". He questions if this American remake of a British show will be able to find its American voice, but commends the strong source material. He calls the show "unsettling, flawed but ambitious" and credits it with the secret that "it wears its heart on its skin". Troy Patterson of Slate describes the show as a "sporadically excellent adaption" that is "superior teensploitation, enabling youth to rejoice in the fantasy of their corruption". He admonishes those who call the show child pornography, scolding them for "trivializing terrible crimes with flabby language" and judges it to be more an indication of the show's success that it angers some parents and sets itself on the far side of a generation gap. Controversy The show has garnered controversy from various conservative groups for its teenage depictions of casual sex and drug use, especially with regard to underage actors. In the wake of a mounting scandal over a possible child pornography investigation of MTV as a result of the show's content, Yum! Brands (Taco Bell), Mars, Incorporated (Wrigley), General Motors, Doctor's Associates (Subway), Foot Locker, H&R Block, Schick, Guthy-Renker (Proactiv), L'Oréal, Reckitt Benckiser (Clearasil) and Kraft all opted to pull their advertising from the program. Additionally, the conservative television activist group