Thursday, April 24, 2014

Ken Baker's "How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly in Love"

Ken Baker is an E! Entertainment Television News Correspondent. He is the author of Fangirl, and his memoir, Man Made: A Memoir of My Body, is the inspiration for the upcoming film The Late Bloomer. He lives (and writes) in Hermosa Beach, California.

Here Baker dreamcasts an adaptation of his new novel, How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly in Love:
Reflecting the lack of roles for plus-sized actresses in Hollywood, it’s next to impossible to draft much of a list of known actresses who could play Emery Jackson, the outspoken and obese teen narrator of my new novel, How I Got Skinny, Famous and Fell Madly in Love. Although the incredibly funny and talented Rebel Wilson is too old to play Emery, she would have been great, say, nearly ten years ago. So, given Hollywood’s lackluster stable of actresses who approximate Emery’s general age and physical appearance, I defer to Plan B: An actress who could play Emery who also is willing to add weight like others have, such as Charlize Theron in Monster and, to a lesser extent, Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones’s Diary.

That actress is Miley Cyrus. Why? Well, Miley, whom I have interviewed many times over the years, is funny, brash, intelligent, and, as proved on Hannah Montana, she can deliver a snarky comedic line and also be dramatic and emotive. She is such a talented and charismatic musical performer, however, that Miley often has been under-rated and under-apprecaited as an actress. But playing Emery – after a physician-supervised weight gain, of course – would be a great fit for her, and the kind of body-transformation role that wins actresses Oscars!
Visit Ken Baker's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

Writers Read: Ken Baker.

The Page 69 Test: How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly in Love.

--Marshal Zeringue