Friday, March 31, 2017

Anne D. LeClaire's "The Halo Effect"

Anne LeClaire's novels include Entering Normal, The Lavender Hour, and Leaving Eden, as well as the critically acclaimed memoir, Listening Below the Noise: The Transformative Power of Silence.

Her new novel is The Halo Effect.

Here LeClaire dreamcasts an adaptation of The Halo Effect:
The question inevitably comes up in the Q&A portion of author events. “Who would you cast in the movie of your book?” an audience member asks, and then, also inevitably, there follows an awkward silence while I flip through a mental file of actors trying to come up with matches for my characters.

By now you might think I’d prepare by doing this exercise before the event, but the problem is I don’t imagine my characters as actors, not while I am creating them and not when the book is finished. For me they’re unique to themselves, not only in physical appearance (I suppose that’s the easiest aspect when trying to cast) but in the complexity of character.

But, for the moment, putting on my casting director cap, here is the ideal cast and director for The Halo Effect:

Will Light: Rufus Sewell. Currently playing Lord Melbourne in the BBC production of Victoria, he’s the dream choice. He can project a brooding melancholy that can switch in a second to a warmth and vulnerability. One senses that there are stories beneath stories, histories behind histories in his face in repose. And that smile could seduce a stone.

Rain: Rowan Blanchard. Rowan, fifteen, is the right age for Rain (personal pet peeve is age-inappropriate casting ie a twenty-five year old playing a sixteen year old) and there is a haunting quality to her combined with the righteous passion teenagers can feel about social issues.

Lucy: Sabrina Carpenter. Like Blanchard, Carpenter is a Girl Meets World veteran. She is perfect for the role of Rain since there is an almost other worldly quality of innocence about her.

Sophie: Debra Messing. What I like about Messing is that her characters always seem so full of life and joy, as I imagine Sophie was before Lucy was killed, but then, when her glorious smile fades, we get a glimpse of sorrow and of a valiant woman who has the strength of a warrior.

Father Gervase: Chris Carter. Okay he’s taller than the little priest but he’s such a great actor I swear he could take on the role of a shoe and I’d believe it. There is something in his eyes, whatever role he has taken on, that suggest sorrow and compassion for humanity.

The Director: Lasse Hallström. We can dream can’t we?
Visit Anne D. LeClaire's website.

Writers Read: Anne D. LeClaire.

--Marshal Zeringue