Khulan was a student in 2006 hoping to join the country's military and enroll in a military school[1] when she was discovered by Guka Omarova, the casting agent for Mongol, while standing in a visa line at the Chinese embassy in Ulaanbaatar. Bodrov and Omarova had wanted to cast a Mongol woman as Genghis Khan's wife but with two weeks to go before filming they were uncertain about their choices. After meeting with her, Bodrov decided to take a risk on the non-professional actress and subsequently cast her in the role of Börte.[2]