This week I finished revising my outline for the sequel to “The Liberty Box” (had to keep going back through and adjusting as I learned more about cyberterrorism, actually), and starting writing this (if I do say so myself) GREAT scene between Jackson and Kate in which he’s teaching her how to train her mind and hunt. The tension between them is palpable… it was all I could do to stop writing and go to work, and then I couldn’t stop thinking about it all day!
Because of this, I suddenly feel the need to cast my characters… you know, should I ever need to for the sake of a screenplay or anything. 😉
Casting the role of Jackson:
My description of him was that while he has brown hair, he has a reddish face, looks like he’s been out in the sun a lot, and so even though he’s 26 he already has crow’s feet. (This means the actor who plays him will probably have to be older than 26). Kate also thinks at one point that he’s altogether red — he has reddish eyes too, and he gives her the impression of a fox. (The animal, that is.) 🙂
So my potential casting selection for Jackson: Michael Weaver. Down side: he’s 44, almost 20 years too old! But you can’t tell in Hollywood anyway.
(I also considered Michael Fassbender, but he looks less friendly somehow. Jackson is friendly.)
Casting the role of Kate:
She is 24, long dark hair and blue eyes. I want her to be beautiful, but in an approachable way… so not like Megan Fox. She’s too femme fatale. I’d love to have Evangeline Lilly, except she already played a character named Kate (LOST), so that’s kind of weird.
So maybe this girl? I can’t even find her name…
Casting the role of Will:
He’s blond, very pale, very serious, very angular.
So my selection for Will: Lucas Till. He’s actually 25, so right on age-wise. (I think he looks a lot like Neil Patrick Harris, side note.)
Casting the role of Nick:
I don’t describe him much in the book, but he’s in his 40s, has salt and pepper hair and a big barrel chest.
My selection: I didn’t want to choose anybody well-known, but I just keep coming back to Liam Neeson. He’s much too old for the role, but again, does it matter in Hollywood?
Casting the role of Molly:
I don’t describe Molly much — she’s just likable and matronly. That makes me want to cast Sally Field. Again, much too old for the role (though probably a good fit with Liam Neeson, age-wise.)
Casting the role of Alec:
He’s redheaded, skinny, and difficult — so I want a character who looks a bit quirky. Seth Green works.
Geez, casting is harder than I thought! It would probably help if I had a whole bunch of headshot submissions to choose from… but I can see now why the casting selection for movies doesn’t always correspond to the physical description of the character in the book. You want to capture a certain *essence* even more than you want to get the description right…
