Befall as a Movie

The book I'm writing would translate very well to the silver screen. Maybe I think that because I'm biased. It plays like a movie in my head as I'm writing, so it would seem natural to jump into the box office. Whether or not that actually happens is another story altogether. Let's just focus on getting into book form before we start thinking of a movie of it.

It has always been a habit of mine to line up actors to play my characters as a way of getting their looks solid in my mind. What I find with this book is different from other books I've tried to write. Where I usually have one actor in mind, this book has me bouncing around from actor to actor to the point where I have two or three actors for each character that I think would be good.

There really aren't a whole lot of characters in this book. It's a far cry from my last novel attempt which became such a fiasco full of characters that even I got daunted by it. So here is the list of actors I have lined up with each character. I realize this won't mean much to you if you haven't read the story yet. Oh well. It's for my own entertainment.

Olivia:
Emma Stone (current favorite because she can do sassy and independent very well)
Rooney Mara (definitely has the look I picture for Liv)
Rachel McAdams (probably a little older than Olivia but I absolutely love her)
Lea Michele (I'm pretty sure it would be nice if whoever played Olivia also had a nice set of pipes, looks-wise Lea doesn't fit my vision of Olivia though)
Emily Blunt (not sure why...but she'd be great)

Grady:
Penn Badgley (it would be interesting if he and Emma Stone were in another movie together)
Chris Fisher (relatively unknown but he has the look and an accent)
Anton Yelchin (He's an excellent actor)
Chace Crawford (I know next to nothing about him. And I'm not a Gossip Girl fan but he has the look for Grady)

Harper:
Chris Pine (the constant favorite for him. For Harper it really would depend on who was cast as Olivia)
Chris Evans (haven't hated anything he's done. He's proving himself to be a good leading man)
Cam Gigandet (huh. Another cast member of Easy A. Coincidence?)

Nikki:
Hilary Duff (she'd be a good bff)
Kristen Bell (Not sure if she'd play the best friend in a movie but she's got the look...)
That's all I've got.

Queen Maeve:
Charlize Theron (basically Charlize is who I think of when I think of classic beauties)
Olivia Wilde (She's everywhere lately. And she has an exotic beauty about her that would be perfect)

Red Man:
Cam Gigandet (if he isn't cast as Harper, he'd be great as the crazy Red Man)
Paul Bettany (he's actually probably perfect for the role)
Karl Urban (Probably one of the most versatile actors out there right now)

Vanessa:
Zoe Saldana (I'm seeing a lot of Star Trek cast members in this list too. Huh.)
Aunjanue Ellis (She was great in The Help as Yule May)

Ok. That's all I've got right now. Below is a mock movie poster I made for fun.

Grady

This is just for fun.

I like to visualize my characters when I write and the easiest way to do that is to find actors that would best be able to play them were they to make a movie of the book. Tonight I was watching Kick Ass (an awesome movie, btw, I am a total fan).

For a long time I had a hard time figuring out who could play Grady simply because there are not very many red-headed actors out there. Then I got to thinking that it did not really matter. The actor could just dye his hair. So I started to look at actors with the same features that I picture minus the red hair.

Here is what I came up with:

1. Penn Badgley

Penn is a great choice for Grady. He has the mop of curly hair, a sense of style, and the ladies love him. While Grady is not necessarily the main heartthrob of the book, he does have a certain appeal that must be present. He has been in Easy A, Gossip Girl, and Forever Strong.


2. Anton Yelchin


I think Anton is a really great actor. He has proven himself to be very versatile and I really don't think an Irish accent would be a hard thing for him to pull off. He's got the look with the wild curls and the square jaw and light-colored eyes. Yelchin has been in Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, and Charlie Bartlett.



3. Aaron Johnson


The reason I brought up Kick Ass at the beginning of the post is because, as I was watching Aaron Johnson, I kept seeing Grady in him. There is even a scene in the movie where his hair looks slightly red and I was all excited. His breakout movie was Kick Ass, but he has a lot of films under his belt such as Nowhere Boy and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

You're probably thinking "Jake, they all look the same." Maybe so. They have similar features, but I think each actor would be able to bring a different Grady to the table. Who would you prefer to see as Grady? Any of my top three? Someone else you think is better? Let me know.

That's all for now, folks.