Susan Walter's "Running Cold"

Susan Walter is the author of Lie by the Pool, Good as Dead, and Over Her Dead Body. She was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After being given every opportunity―and failing―to become a concert violinist, Walter attended Harvard University. She had hoped to be a newscaster, but the local TV station had different ideas and hired her to write and produce promos instead. Seeking sunshine and a change of scenery, Walter moved to Los Angeles to work in film and television production. Upon realizing writers were having all the fun, Walter transitioned to screenwriting, then directing. She wrote and made her directorial debut with the 2017 film All I Wish, starring Sharon Stone.

Here Walter dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Running Cold:

Of all my books, this is the one I most want to see as a movie … because it was inspired by a movie! Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones starred in a 1993 film called The Fugitive about a doctor (Ford) who was framed for killing his wife (the impossibly beautiful Sela Ward) and escapes arrest in a spectacular collision between a bus and a train. Ford is pursued by a scrappy U.S. Marshal (brilliantly played by Tommy Lee Jones) while trying to solve the murder and clear his name. Thirty years later, I still can’t get this movie out of my head. So I decided to do a version with women in the starring roles, and then up the stakes by setting it in the Canadian Rockies during a blizzard.

Julie Weston Adler is working as a chambermaid in the spooky Banff Springs Hotel (yes it’s a real place!) because her husband lost all their money then took his own life. Not your average hotel employee, Julie is a former Olympian. Her sport, the biathlon, combines skiing and sharp shooting … and yes she has her rifle with her … and may be forced to use it!

I imagine Julie as a Canadian Katniss Everdeen - fearless and athletic with a strong connection to nature. So of course I wrote her with Jennifer Lawrence in mind! Other actresses I think would make excellent Julies are Blake Lively (so tall and commanding!) and Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larson.

The woman Julie is accused of murdering is named Ceci Rousseau. She is a former ballerina and socialite in her sixties with a sharp tongue and style for days. I directed the outlandishly talented Sharon Stone in my 2018 film All I Wish and wrote the character with her in mind. I could also see Helen Mirren or Naomi Watts in the role.

Julie has a suitor, Remy, who is a French-Canadian heartthrob. I would cast another All I Wish actor, Gilles Marini, in this role. He is so talented and gorgeous, with that thick cascade of black hair and irresistible French accent.

Julie has a best friend, Izzy, who is opposite to her in almost every way - relaxed and fun-loving instead of intense and self-critical, has womanly curves where Julie is all muscles and grit. She’s not primarily an actress, but I always imagined Adele in this role. Or maybe the hilarious Nicole Byer from Nailed It.

Finally, in the role of Detective Monique Montpelier, I imagined Kerry Washington, who has the perfect balance of humor and power. I also sometimes mused at how amazing Jennifer Lopez would be. I loved her depiction of a police woman in Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight.

If place is a character, then I have to include Banff, Alberta in my casting. The novel is set there, and there is no place like it on earth! It is somehow both majestic and adorable, with its quaint storefronts nestled in between jagged mountain peaks. And the Banff Springs Hotel, where the murder takes place, is a one-of-a-kind castle in the snow. It’s been many decades since a movie was shot there, I think it’s time for this amazing town to come out of retirement!

Visit Susan Walter's website.

Q&A with Susan Walter.

--Marshal Zeringue