Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Alex Adams's "White Horse"

Alex Adams was born in New Zealand, raised in Greece and Australia, and currently lives in Oregon–which is a whole lot like New Zealand, minus those freaky-looking wetas.

Here she shares some ideas for casting an adaptation of her new novel White Horse, the first volume in a debut trilogy:
I don't populate my stories with famous faces. Sometimes my characters don't wear faces at all. They remain hazy, with features that stand out only when they need to.

But lately people have been asking questions about who I'd cast in the various roles, should a production company snap up White Horse's film rights. So I've been sifting through faces.

Kate Winslet would really work for Zoe. As my protagonist, the whole story is filtered through her point of view, so the role needs an actor strong enough to carry every scene. Is there anything Kate can't do? I don't think so.

There's no one I've ever seen as Nick Rose. None of the current crop of Hollywood stars would work for me, so he'd have to be a complete unknown.

I'm not all that familiar with the UK's young stars, so for Lisa, the young blind woman Zoe saves, I'd have to go with Ahna O'Reilly—but with an English accent.

Morris I see as Jada Pinkett Smith. She's got the look and the right blend of toughness and vulnerability. Morris has lost everyone, yet she's able to push that aside, lead people, do tough things that need to be done. And somehow, she manages to maintain her sense of humor. I think Jada would totally kill in that role.

White Horse's villain, the Swiss, is probably the trickiest to cast. I have someone in mind, but there's a huge plot-gaping reason why it wouldn't work (and no, I'll never say who unless you've read the book). A fellow writer suggested Giovanni Ribisi, and so far I can't think of anyone better.
Learn more about the book and author at Alex Adams's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue