the front runner

so tim and i just read the front runner by patricia nell warren. i saw elsewhere that it was a very well-written book. whoever said that was W-R-O-N-G. it is bad. as tim said, it's a gay harlequin romance. also, despite the fact that it was written by a woman, boy is this book down on women. that being said, it was a fun read and the story itself is good. it would make a great movie, but we are finding it awfully hard to cast.

billy has been a stumbling block. it's hard to think of a young actor who has the charisma and smoldering good looks that billy needs. plus, he's got to be a good actor. River Phoenix would have been perfect 15 years ago. also, harlan has proven problematic. tim came up with an all british cast that i liked:

Harlan - Daniel Craig
Vince - Dominic Cooper
Jacques - Jamie Bell
Billy - Charlie Hunnam

I am in favor of casting Charlie Hunnam in everything. And Johnny Depp. but i didnt cast him this time.

I had 2 casts, one with younger actors as the principals and the other with older actors. the boys in the book are all supposed to be 20 or 21 and Harlan has his 40th birthday during the story. here's what i came up with:

Harlan Brown - Josh Lucas/Brad Pitt
Billy Sive - Jamie Bell/Taylor Kitsch
Vince Matti - Emile Hirsch/Adrian Grenier
Jacques LaFont - Lou Taylor Pucci/Milo Ventimiglia
John Sive - Robert DeNiro/Jeff Goldblum
Dauphine - Gary Dourdan/Jesse Martin
Betsy - Kristen Bell/Katherine Moennig
Steve Goodnight - SPACEY/David Thewlis
Angel - Rory Culkin, no alternate.

in my mind, adrian grenier IS vince. but he may be too old. tim has suggested robert downey, jr and matt dillon as harlan and i like both of those suggestions. hopefully he will send me his final cast soon and i will update this.

here's a bonus--this is the cover of the copy tim read.

fringe--i give up

fringe pretty much sucks. aside from better writing and scripts that arent lifted from the x-files and changed just enough to be explained by science instead of the paranormal--fire joshua jackson and the guy who plays the dad. get jeroen krabbe in as the doctor and shift kirk acevedo's character over to be dunham's partner. dunham's okay, she's a little too intense. i blame that on direction.

yes, so new directors, mostly new leads, and new writers. that should fix this show.

the terror by dan simmons

Crozier - Johnny Depp
Fitzjames - Ewan McGregor
Goodsir - Cillian Murphy
Franklin - Tom Wilkinson
Irving - Charlie Hunnam
Hickey - Robert Carlyle
Peglar - James McAvoy
Bridgens - Anthony Hopkins
Gordon - Peter Sarsgaard

director - Tim Burton (as long as he doesnt cast Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Silence)

it's more likely that russell crowe would be cast as crozier, but i think he lacks sensitivity, and that factor is surprisingly crucial to crozier's character.

i also feel like Jamie Bell should be in this movie. maybe he could be evans.

i tried to cast Rupert Graves in here somewhere. Maybe as Peglar. Then McAvoy could be Hickey, we've never really seen him as a character like that. Could be interesting, actually. but i feel like he's too young to be Hickey, hickey seems like more of an old salt.

this would be a good role for johnny depp, i resisted him as crozier for a while because i felt like he wasnt rough and burly enough to play crozier. i tried a few different actors in the part and had trouble visualizing it. finally, i tried johnny and it fit perfectly. and johnny is such a great actor that this wouldnt be fey jack sparrow, but he would be the Crozier of the book.

and for what it's worth--i cast ewan mcg as fitzjames, but the whole time i was reading the book i was picturing billy crudup.