Here she shares some ideas for casting the stars of an adaptation of Aftertime, the first installment in her new dystopian series:I’m so tone-deaf when it comes to pop culture, and especially movie stars, that I always have to turn to my secret whiz kid for help on casting my books as movies. None of them have been picked up for film yet, but I’m hopeful, especially after my pal came up with what I think is our best line-up yet:Read an excerpt from Aftertime, and learn more about the book and author at Sophie Littlefield's website and blog.
In Aftertime, the 30-year-old heroine Cass Dollar has been through a lot: a recovering alcoholic, she struggled to raise a baby while working at a convenience store, only to lose Ruthie first to the department of family services and then to zombies and then to an evil religious cult. So she has to be played by someone with real grit: Juliette Lewis.
If you’re remembering Juliette from her fresh-faced ingénue days, think again. She’s still got those hypnotic green eyes but now she’s added steely determination and don’t-mess-with-me to her chops. I think she’d bring it just fine.
Throughout the Aftertime trilogy, Cass finds herself in a love triangle with two men: the mysterious, damaged, vengeful Smoke, who rescues and accompanies her on her journey to get Ruthie back – and the cynical, domineering, ruthless-when-he-has-to-be Dor, who rules the stark community where they take refuge.
When my movie-savvy friend recommended Josh Holloway of LOST fame for Smoke, I was skeptical – Smoke is in no way a smartass! But then I thought about Holloway’s gift for layering emotion into every smoldering glance, and realized that he could bring the necessary range to Smoke’s character even without a lot of dialog.
And for Dor, there’s only one man for the job: Josh Brolin. This darkly handsome, squint-eyed macho man could easily play the half-Afghani, half-Irish Dor with charisma and sensual appeal to spare. We’d just need to tattoo and pierce him a little. But hey, anything for the art – right?
The Page 69 Test: Aftertime.
--Marshal Zeringue
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