Sheena Kamal was born in the Caribbean and immigrated to Canada as a child. She holds an HBA in political science from the University of Toronto, and was awarded a TD Canada Trust scholarship for community leadership and activism around the issue of homelessness.The Lost Ones/Eyes Like Mine is her debut novel. The sequel It All Falls Down has just been released.
Prior to writing novels, Kamal worked as a crime and investigative journalism researcher for the film and television industry--among other rather unsavoury professions.
Here Kamal shares some thoughts on casting the lead roles in an adaptation of It All Falls Down:
I don't write to actors, but sometimes it's fun to let my mind wander in that direction. Every now and then I get asked who I would cast as my main character, Nora Watts. The truth is, I don't know who could play Nora. I would absolutely love for an intrepid producer to take a chance on an indigenous actor for this part--and there are a few names that kick around in my mind--but it can be tough when you write a character of mixed-heritage.Visit Sheena Kamal's website.
The other important characters are much easier. I'd love to see Nora's love interest, Jon Brazuca, played by Vancouver actor Ryan Reynolds. Deadpool fame aside, he was in a fantastic movie called Buried where it was just him in a coffin for 90-minutes. He did great work in that film and I can absolutely see him as Nora's mercurial ex-sponsor, a man with mysterious motives.
The other person I cast in my imagination sometimes is Nora's mentor, Seb Crow. He could easily be played by Adam Beach or Mahershala Ali. I also love to imagine Manal Issa, John Cho and Bryan Cranston as just a few of my villains. Strange that it's easier to cast my villains than my hero. I'm sure there's something more to that...
The Page 69 Test: The Lost Ones.
--Marshal Zeringue