Leslie Gray Streeter's "Family & Other Calamities"

Leslie Gray Streeter is an award-winning journalist and columnist for the Baltimore Banner. She is the author of the memoir Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like “Journey” in the Title, the cohost of the podcast Fine Beats and Cheeses, and a frequent speaker on grief. She is also a slow runner, an amateur vegan cook, and a fan of Law & Order.

Here Streeter dreamcasts an adaptation of her new novel, Family & Other Calamities:

Dawn Roberts is a widowed entertainment journalist who returns home with her husband’s ashes and 30 years’ worth of secrets. The big newspaper story that launched the career of her former friend Joe Perkins? He stole it from Dawn, because she made it easy by trusting him. And for decades she’s kept his secret out of shame and necessity, until she comes home and discovers that Joe is making a movie out of the stolen story…and she’s the villain.

Here are my dream actors:

Dawn: Regina Hall. I think she can play both drama and broad comedy, and you have to believe her as a both a distinguished professional and someone who can get wacky if she has to.

Joe: Morris Chestnut. I wrote the character with him in mind; a handsome, deep-voiced charmer who can seductively get his way and be gone before you ever notice.

Eddie: Larenz Tate. Eddie is a photographer that Dawn worked with when they were younger, who holds the key to something crucial in her current life and she doesn’t even know it. It had to be someone with an easy smile. That’s Larenz Tate.

Dale, Dawn’s late husband: Ethan Hawke. Again, he’s a guy who in his 50s is believable as having been dreamy all his life. Also there are enough photos and bits of footage of young Ethan that the flashbacks aren’t an issue.

Tonya, Dawn’s sister: Erika Alexander. Smart. Savvy. Will read you if she has to. And she really must.

Anita, Dawn and Tonya’s mom: Phylicia Rashaad. Again, fierce and funny. You would not mess with her.

Brent, Dawn’s brother-in-law: Josh Charles. I really wanted a handsome actor who could play quiet, and then come at you like the lawyer he is. Josh Charles has not only played lawyers, but he’s from Baltimore. Honestly, I would have cast him in my mind as Dale, in this fictional movie, but I already had Ethan Hawke. In fake movies, everyone’s always available.

Miss Vivienne St. Clair, Valerie Pettiford. She’s an R&B diva with secrets. Must be over-the-top but not completely goofy. Must instill fears in critics and backing singers.

Bria James: Raven Goodwin. A younger reporter who clashes with Dawn as she follows the story of Joe’s coverup. Must be formidable. And gorgeous.

Visit Leslie Gray Streeter's website.

--Marshal Zeringue