her MFA in creative writing at Washington University in St. Louis. She lives in Utah with her husband and their two sons.
Here Murphy dreamcasts an adaptation of her newest novel, The Wonder State:
I’m biased, but I think The Wonder State could make a riveting movie. The story is familiar – friends drawn back to a hometown they swore they’d leave behind. And setting a movie in the Arkansas Ozarks seems like an overlooked opportunity. The natural landscape there is dramatic and gorgeous, a character in and of itself.Visit Sara Flannery Murphy's website.
If I could choose my dream director and screenwriter, I’d go with Brit Marling and Zat Batmanglij, the brains behind The OA. The OA has a dreamlike quality that I absolutely love, and Batmanglij and Marling would capture the nostalgic, magical feeling of The Wonder State while also weaving in its strangeness and darkness. The second season of The OA even features a mysterious house with a complex backstory, so I know they could handle The Wonder State’s many houses.
Casting actors to play my characters is tricky since I picture them so distinctly inside my head. It almost feels like casting a movie based on people I actually know, like finding an actor who best represents my mother or my close friend … something’s always lost in translation. The Wonder State presents an additional challenge because it’s a dual timeline story, requiring both teen and adult actors. I’m a massive Yellowjackets fan, so I know how well this can work when it’s done right, but I struggled to find actors who:
1. Captured the spirit of the characters as both teens and adults
2. Looked reasonably alike
I came away with a renewed respect for the casting director of Yellowjackets. The friends’ group in my novel has six people, but I focused on the two who form the core of the story. Jay, the protagonist, and Brandi, her best friend who’s left behind in their hometown (and then calls Jay and the others back home).
I decided that a young Jay could be played by Maude Apatow, who’s good at portraying a reflective, quieter teen who finds herself on the fringes of things, but who can also step into the spotlight. And when Jay returns home after years away, I can see Rachel Brosnahan playing the more cynical, uncertain version. I’m used to Brosnahan in a more comedic role, but I know she could give Jay the gravity and bittersweetness that defines her as an adult grappling with her past. (In reality, there are only eight years between Apatow and Brosnahan, but hopefully I can take some artistic license.)
A young Brandi could be played by Sophia Lillis, who has a gentleness and sense of wonder that could work perfectly for Brandi. As a teen, Brandi has trouble asserting herself, and tends to be dismissed, but she’s a lot more perceptive than the other characters give her credit for. Although the older Brandi isn’t onscreen as much, she needs to shine. That’s why I think an older Brandi could be played by Elizabeth Olsen. I first saw Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene, and she brings a depth and complexity to traumatized characters.
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