Sung J. Woo's "Lines"

Sung J. Woo's short stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times, PEN/Guernica, and Vox. He has written five novels, Lines (2024), Deep Roots (2023), Skin Deep (2020), Love Love (2015), and Everything Asian (2009), which won the 2010 Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Literature Award. In 2022, his Modern Love essay from The New York Times was adapted by Amazon Studios for episodic television. A graduate of Cornell University with an MFA from New York University, he lives in Washington, New Jersey.

Here Woo dreamcasts an adaptation of Lines:

I imagine my fifth novel, Lines, would be a welcome challenge to actors, because the four main characters would each get to play two very different versions of themselves. The stars are Joshua the writer and Abby the painter, who in one "line" are married and miserable (which I call Together), while in the other line, they meet for the first time five years later and maybe-sort-of fall in love (which I call Apart). In both lines, they interact with the same two people, Marlene for Joshua and Ted for Abby. In Together, Marlene is Joshua's "work wife"; Ted and Abby share an office and are friendly. In Apart, Josh and Marlene are married; Abby and Ted are about to be.

In Together, Joshua is bitter about everything -- his lack of money, his hatred of his job, his disappointment at his fledgling writing career. Here, Abby unhappily paints large canvases to make money, and she very unhappily lives with her angry tyrant of a husband.

In Apart, Josh and Marlene share a comfortable life, and even though Josh's writing is no more successful than in Together, his financial situation smooths out any and all wrinkles. Here, Abby and Ted are also well off so she has the freedom to paint her true passion, miniature paintings.

In both lines, Abby becomes pregnant. The novel spans nine months. That's not a coincidence!

Okay -- so, whom to cast...

Joshua Kozlov - Jonah Hill. I was actually thinking of him when writing this book. A few years back he starred in a limited TV show called Maniac with Emma Stone, and he showed some impressive dramatic chops.

Abby Kim - Kelly Marie Tran. I did not enjoy any of the new Star Wars movies, but I did like Kelly's take on her Rose Tico character. She'd make a great Abby; she's got the right sad eyes.

Marlene McNally - Melissa McCarthy. If you haven't seen her in non-comedic roles, you really should. Even before Can You Ever Forgive Me?, she was great in The Nines. She's probably a little old for the role, but hey, she can still pass for forty.

Ted Wingfield - Walton Goggins. Also probably a bit too old to play Abby's love interest, but if anybody can pull it off, it's Walton! Such a versatile actor, flips between comedy and tragedy on a dime.

As far as directors go, how about John August, who helmed the movie I already mentioned, The Nines? If you haven't seen that film, it's absolutely worth watching, and because he so effortlessly moves between three stories (Ryan Reynolds, Melissa McCarthy, and Hope Davis each play three different people), I can't think of a better person to make this movie.

Visit Sung J. Woo's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Sung J. Woo & Koda.

The Page 69 Test: Everything Asian.

My Book, The Movie: Skin Deep.

Q&A with Sung J. Woo.

The Page 69 Test: Skin Deep.

My Book, The Movie: Deep Roots.

The Page 69 Test: Deep Roots.

Writers Read: Sung J. Woo (September 2023).

The Page 69 Test: Lines.

--Marshal Zeringue