Becky Masterman is the acquisitions editor for a press specializing in medical textbooks for forensic examiners and law enforcement. She grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and received her MA in creative writing from Florida Atlantic University. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband.Here Masterman shares some ideas for casting the lead in an adaptation of Rage Against the Dying, her first thriller:
I got the idea for her when I saw the first model with gray hair in a clothing catalog. Brigid Quinn, the heroine of Rage Against the Dying, is fifty-nine years old, and prematurely white from her days as an undercover FBI agent. She wears that hair in a long ponytail, flaunting it, maybe as kind of a badge of honor. She's a small woman, but physically vibrant, and hides her heart with a tough, earthy style and acerbic wit. These days she's trying to fit into newly-married life in Tucson and prevent her book club from discovering she can still kill a man with her bare hands. Publishers Weekly compared her to Clarice Starling, so Jodie Foster is the obvious choice to play her, but she may be too young. With our glorification of youth, who ever thought we'd reach a time where actresses might be too young for a good role? No, the best advice I would give a casting director is that she needs to find a cross between Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker. Although Steven Seagal does have that ponytail. . .but he may lack the comedic timing.Learn more about Rage Against the Dying at the publisher's website.
--Marshal Zeringue
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