Meghan Holloway found her first Nancy Drew mystery in a sun-dappled attic at the age of eight and subsequently fell in love with the grip and tautness of a well-told mystery. She flew an airplane before she learned how to drive a car, did her undergrad work in Creative Writing in the sweltering south, and finished a Masters of Library and Information Science in the blustery north. She spent a summer and fall in Maine picking peaches and apples, traveled the world for a few years, and did a stint fighting crime in the records section of a police department.She now lives in the foothills of the Appalachians with her standard poodle and spends her days as a scientist with the requisite glasses but minus the lab coat.
Here Holloway dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Once More Unto the Breach:
I never have a model or actor in mind for a character as I am writing. The characters reveal themselves to me as fully evolved, entirely unique individuals, not based on any specific person. It is not simply a matter of looks that captures a character. The strength of the actor, the range of emotions they are able to portray, the actors’ presence on the screen balancing the parallel of the character on the page…I gave the subject of starring roles for Once More Unto the Breach some consideration before I came up with my answer.Visit Meghan Holloway's website, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Istagram.
Rhys is Welsh, and that cultural pride is so integral to his identity that I would suggest an actor like Ioan Gruffudd or Matthew Rhys to portray him for the sake of authenticity. One reviewer has described Rhys as a Homeric character with a poignancy about him. I love that description. He is a sheep farmer and a veteran of the Great War, and he personifies the old adage “still waters run deep.” He is physically and emotionally strong and stalwart, but he has a poet’s soul. With the mental wounds left from WWI and the losses he has faced in life, there is a melancholy about him in addition to the ruggedness, and I think Clive Owen could portray that perfectly.
Charlotte is the perfect partner for Rhys in his journey. In the first scene I ever wrote for Once More Unto the Breach, Rhys is in a tiny apartment in Paris in the days following the city’s liberation. He is unable to sleep, and he is far from home with a worn letter in his pocket. He was attacked on the streets earlier that day and was saved by the woman who lies sleeping in the next room. He is indebted to her, but also wary of her.
Charlotte was there in my head from the beginning. With that first scene, I only knew two things about her: 1) She was American, and 2) she carried a Colt M1911.
I love phenomenal secondary characters in stories, and Charlotte plays a pivotal role in the tale. She is a woman with secrets of her own, and she has her own reasons for offering to aid Rhys in his journey. She is courageous and pragmatic, quick-thinking and unflinching in the midst of danger. Even so, I strove to create a woman authentic to the times. A debutante from Louisiana, she came to Paris to study at the Sorbonne in the 30s and remained after the invasion in 1940. When the American Hospital needed people for the Ambulance Field Service, she joined. As she tells Rhys, “I can play the piano, draw, paint, sew, and dance. My mother insisted on those. But my father also insisted on making certain I could shoot, drive, and take an engine apart and put it back together again. I could be of use to you.” Over the course of the story, Charlotte always remained a bit of a mystery to Rhys—and to me.
I cannot think of anyone more perfect for the role than Jessica Chastain. She has the natural, effortless elegance, the strong, fearless femininity, and the emotional range to play the character of Charlotte thoughtfully, grittily, and authentically.
If you’ve read Once More Unto the Breach, tell me what you think of my choices for the leading roles. Who would you pick to portray Rhys and Charlotte?
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
