Friday, July 9, 2010

Casting Call Friday - One For The Money



We hadn't seen this kind of feature around on other books blogs, so we here at Lit Snit thought it'd be fun to start a new weekly feature, Casting Call Friday.

We know not every book will be (or should be) turned into a movie, but sometimes you just can't help imagine who in Hollywood would be perfect to play your favorite character. Every Friday one of us will pick a book and give you our dream cast.

This whole thing actually came about a few months ago when I finally got around to reading Janet Evanovich's One for the Money Janelle, Daniela, and I argued for longer than I'm sure any of us would like to admit about who would be the perfect Stephanie Plum, Morelli, and Ranger. In celebration of that first (and probably not the last) casting argument/discussion/belligerent yelling (totally on my part...I get defensive about my Morelli choice) I thought I'd kick off Casting Call Friday with One for the Money, even if it's already cast and in production.

Stephanie Plum: Michelle Monaghan

She's smart and sly, with the ability to play comedy and drama really well. If any of you have seen the movie Trucker, you know Michelle can play a realistic, flawed character with heart. She'd be awesome as the lead character, making those absurd bounty hunter mishaps Stephanie finds herself in, seem realistic and not at all cartoon-y.



Joe Morelli: Jeffrey Dean Morgan

I won't lie. I kind of adore Jeffrey Dean Morgan and think he'd be awesome in most anything, but he'd especially be a great Morelli. He's got that gruff, arrogant but sweet charm that makes Morelli my favorite of Stephanie's love interests. Morgan just embodies Morelli in my mind. He could even pull off lines like, "It's not the pizza, darlin', its my masculine presence" without making me cringe.



Ranger: Kevin Alejandro

Kevin Alejandro has the perfect mysterious badass vibe that's needed for Ranger. He'd be a great bounty hunter mentor to Stephanie, while keeping the sexual tension alive and well.





Grandma Mazur: Cloris Leachman

Hilarious and uncensored, Leachman would be perfect as Stephanie's gun-toting, delightfully batty grandmother. I can just hear her delivering Grandma Mazur's dry, blunt quips, while serving as a lovable meddler in Stephanie's personal and professional life.




Lula: Mo'Nique

Mo'Nique proved this past year that she's one hell of an actress with Precious, and I think she'd be brilliant as Lula, the hooker who Stephanie befriends and eventually becomes her sometimes partner. She's funny and sweet and you'd know she'd have Stephanie's back.




So that's my dream cast for Janet Evanovich's One for the Money. What do you think? Do you agree/disagree? What's your dream cast for the Stephanie Plum series?

EDIT: I've just discovered the hilarious blog Forever Young Adult who cast the main characters in their reviews. If you like this feature, check them out!

12 comments:

  1. Ha. Love this post! Casting the Plum books is a popular topic over on our blog. ( http://withagoodbook.com/2009/06/revisiting-the-stephanie-plum-series/ )

    My ideal Stephanie is Lauren Graham, but she's getting a bit old for the role now.

    I think Anne Hathaway or Alyssa Milano would both be great as Stephanie.

    Jeffrey Dean Morgan definitely looks the part of Morelli, but I think he's a bit old for the role as well. I'd love to see Mattew Bomer as Joe.

    This is another one who's probably getting too old to play the character from the beginning, but I've always pictured Dwayne Johnson as Ranger.

    I've always thought Yvette Nicole Brown would be a good Lula.

    I think Betty White would be a hoot as Grandma Mazur!

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  2. Yay!

    Ok...

    1) Stephanie:I'm always on the fence about this one! I'd cast Busy Phillips (Cougar Town, Freaks & Geeks) and dye her hair. She could totally do Jersey!( This choice is mainly for the comedic factor.) If not Busy, then maybe Debi Mazar? She's a bit old for the role, though.

    2) Morelli: I'll go with your choice of JDM for the moment.

    3)Ranger: OMG. I love their choice of Daniel Sunjata. The man is foxy, plain and simple, and he's normally cast as the smooth type, like Ranger.

    4)Jody, I never even thought about Yvette Nicole Brown but you're right, she'd be a great choice. I'd also suggest Sherri Shepard.

    5)Ooh, Grandma is hard. I don't have a choice for that one...

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  3. Oh, I remember seeing that post on your site! You guys had great picks.

    Lauren Graham would have been an awesome Stephanie. She definitely would have had the dialogue down. You know, I don't think Katherine Heigel is a bad choice really. She'll probably do a decent job. I just like Michelle Monaghan because she's a little rough around the edges like Steph and can go toe-to-toe with male leads like Robert Downey Jr. (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and Nathan Fillion (Trucker) and hold her own.

    Matthew Bomer would be an interesting Morelli. They'd have to rough him up a little. He's so pretty in White Collar.

    Yvette Nicole Brown would be an interesting Lula. I've only seen her as the sweet, "that's nice" Shirley in Community. I think she could do it.

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  4. Busy Phillips is an interesting choice. I'd be into seeing her interpretation. I totally think of her as slightly ditzy since Cougar Town though.

    I have to say if they didn't pick Kevin Alejandro, Daniel Sunjata is a damn fine choice for Ranger.

    I really envision Cloris Leachman in my head when I think of Grandma Mazur for some reason. She's got that off-the-wall sensibility but is a tough old broad.

    PS. Writing this post and talking about this makes me want to start up the series again!

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  5. I love the concept behind Casting Call Friday...I haven't read this one so I can't help, Jeffrey Dean Morgan sounds good but I really have a thing for Christian Bale and he is the one I often tend to cast.

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  6. I love your picks for stephanie and Morelli! I was just stopping by to let you know I am hosting a giveaway to promote my blog and participate in blogfest 2010 feel free to stop by my blog and check it out!

    Happy Reading! :) Danielle

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  7. You know, I stalked you just because your name was also Erin, but then I saw this... and I wholeheartedly agree.

    I don't think I'd have thought of any of them for the characters, but now that you've listed them, I have to say they're perfect.

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  8. Ha! Thanks for stalking! I know what you mean, I see someone with the name Erin and I'm like, "oh she must be cool." :)

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  9. I feel like all the actresses thrown out to play Stephanie are too "put together"/polished and no matter how much I try, I can't picture them as the ever frazzled-chasing-loser-criminals-with-a-stun-gun-and-getting-stuff-blown-up-on-her character that I've grown to love over the 16 books in the series. That being said, I offer no better options. And I love Mo'Nique as Lula, possibly my favorite character in the series (along with Grandma Mazur).

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  10. Have you seen the latest picture of Katherine Heigl as Stephanie? http://www.sheknows.com/articles/816322

    I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I love her slightly frizzy hair and horrible clothing choices (that jean vest is either very 80s or very Jersey...or possibly both).

    I stopped reading the books around the fifth one I think because they just all seemed like the same plot over and over again, but I might pick it up again now. I think I read too many in a row and was just tired of Evanovich's repetitive plot structure after a while.

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  11. They did use Sherri Shepherd! Ha...maybe I should become a casting director! :)

    I looked at the picture and I'm still not completely sold. She still looks a bit perfect to me but she has come a lot closer than I thought she would.

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  12. I agree they did a good job with Heigl's hair, and hopefully she'll surprise me and be able to play a frazzled character and not a polished one.

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