In 1994 a little piece of my soul was crushed by a highly
publicized announcement regarding movie casting. More than a few people were
outraged. Some people were ecstatic at hearing the names Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt
and Antonio Banderas. Some saw it as guaranteed dollar signs. I saw it as
guaranteed disaster. For one thing, Antonio Banderas could not pull off the
role of a 17 year old Russian vampire king no matter how hard they tried to
convince us – the readers of the book – that he could. Second; Tom Cruise? No.
No. and No. Cruise in his day was hot, not going to deny that, but he was not
Lestat. I should know, I had read the book about 13 times by the time they
decided to make this film. Lestat was a real person in my head. I could picture
him in an instant and never did he look like Tom Cruise. But it was more than
just the looks. There is a very distinct attitude carried by Lestat. A
cockiness that I didn’t think Cruise was ever going to be capable of bringing
to the big screen. At this time in his career he was still known for his boy
next door wholesomeness and that is SOOOOO not Lestat. No one wanted to be his
neighbor. I saw the movie with my
college roommates in a small theatre in Cedar City and hated it every bit as
much as I expected to even before they showed the jacked up ending that wasn’t
even close to how it was supposed to go. Getting the characters just right
really is important.
Lestat isn’t the only fictional character to have a
Hollywood face in my head. As I read books and get attached to certain
characters, I tend to cast their roles in my mind. I had a cast for Janet
Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series way before I knew they were going to make a
movie. I hadn’t come up with any of the actors who ended up starring in the
film. Still, I can’t say they did as bad with that one as Warner Bros. did with
“Interview”. After the film was released
and comments started hitting the Internet there were Pinterest boards set up
asking the question “Who Would You Have Cast”. That idea got me thinking about my own book.
The characters from “The Myth Maker” are real people in my brain – yes I know
that makes me slightly crazy – but it’s true. I know what these people look
like, how they act, how they walk. But, if looking at a book of head shots for a
feature film, could I pick them out? I decided to try! If you’re one of the few
who have read the book (Or if you haven’t, I don’t care.)play along. These are
who I see and I would love to know what you think! I’ll start today with a few
of the Langs…
I first paid attention to Cobie Smulders in a very small
role in The Avengers. Something about her on screen presence made me think of
my tough but still girly, female lead. And then I forgot all about it until
someone suggested her as perfect for Stephanie Plum on Pinterest. Stephanie I
didn’t see but when I flipped through the screen of images on Google, she did
fit for Kat. Kat is pretty and feminine but still tough enough to handle her
job as a police detective. She’s got a soft side, a casual side, but can glam
it up when she needs to and she knows how to handle blood. Spiders not so much,
but I don’t hold that against her. She can’t be played by a Tom Boy because Kat
is not a Tom Boy. She can’t look too
tough, but she has to convince people she could handle herself while chasing
down a Spider Herder or going toe to toe with a killer. This is Cobie Smulders.
As important as the casting of Kat, is the casting of her
twin brother, James. James is Kat’s rock. More than her lover or her partner,
it has always been James who’s had Kat’s back. The first actor, Christopher
Gorham, I think would be perfect – and he’s the right build! I love
Gorham as Auggie on Covert Affairs and I think he could be James. The second guy was suggested by Sinnamon and I hadn't thought of him before she mentioned it but now that she has, I can see it! She said when she was reading the book she imagined him as Ian Somerhalder. The biggest difference for me is their height. James is tall, 6'3" and Ian...well....not so much. Still! We're pretending, right?
JAMES LANG IF PLAYED BY CHRISTOPHER GORHAM:
One that I have become
certain of is the role of Meghan in my head. If someone said to me, go ahead
and pick anyone, it would be Zoe Kazan. I can honestly say I’ve never seen her
act but this is a shot of her, just out and about, that I found online. She IS
Meghan. Meghan is the youngest Lang. She’s quirky and free-spirited and is
still coming into her own through these stories. I can’t wait for readers to
see where she is when the second book starts! Honestly, I love Meghan. She is
that flake all of us want to be at times who just takes life as it comes.
Everything is a journey with her and I think this girl could pull that off on
screen. She’s rocking lederhosen for
hells sake!! I love her already.
I have a lot more characters to come up with. I've cast a few others in my head and I'll be sharing those later this week. Play along!
**Disclaimer** I do not own or pretend to own these photos which were all found using Google.
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