Jessica Alcott lives with her husband and their two cats. She graduated from Bennington College and has worked at a children’s publisher in the UK.Here Alcott dreamcasts an adaptation of Even When You Lie to Me, her first novel:
This is a tough one because I deliberately didn't describe what my protagonist, Charlie, looks like – I wanted to leave that up to the reader's imagination. She's depicted only in terms of how she feels about her looks and how other people react to her. Casting her would pin this down – any viewer would be able to make a judgment about whether whoever played her was or wasn't attractive. I'd also worry that the actress would be "Hollywood ugly"; i.e., incredibly attractive but with a slightly unusual nose.Visit Jessica Alcott's website.
As for a director, though, I'd be spoiled for choice. There are a number of amazingly gifted female directors I'd love to film the book (and figure out a lead actress because I'm apparently precious about it): Nicole Holofcener, Andrea Arnold (who's already tackled a similar story with the brilliant Fish Tank), Gina Prince-Bythewood, Sanaa Hamri, Lisa Cholodenko...any of them could make an incredible movie out of it.
Writers Read: Jessica Alcott.
--Marshal Zeringue
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