Derek Haas is the author of the bestselling novel The Silver Bear. He also co-wrote the screenplays for 3:10 to Yuma, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, and Wanted, starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, and Angelina Jolie. His forthcoming film, The Double, starring Richard Gere and Topher Grace, is directed by his screenwriting partner Michael Brandt and will be released in 2011.Here he offers some insights into the casting process, and shares some idea about the look of the actor who might play Columbus, the professional assassin in his latest novel Dark Men, in an adaptation:
I never picture actors when I'm writing my characters or my screenplays… I just see them in my mind's eye, so it's always hard for me when casting begins in earnest on my work. You'll get these actor lists submitted by the talent agencies, and they'll have Eddie Murphy and Daniel Radcliffe on the same list for the same role. Did you even read this screenplay? If I ever had to cast Columbus, it would be tough… his father was a white politician and his mother was a black prostitute, so I've always pictured him as dark skinned, mixed racially… sort of, well, if Clive Owen and Derek Jeter could be cross-pollenated.Learn more about Dark Men at Derek Haas's website.
--Marshal Zeringue
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