Here Morrey shares some thoughts on an adaptation of her new novel, Isabella's Not Dead:
OK, well, I haven’t really thought about it, but I guess there is a dream scenario where I get a call from Netflix out the blue – can I fly to New York at a moment’s notice to meet a director? The director would be Greta Gerwig – I’m fairly sure she made both Lady Bird and Little Women for me personally. She would also adapt the screenplay of Isabella’s Not Dead because she picked it up in a kooky book store in Greenwich Village and fell in love with it. We’d have coffee in some arty café on the Upper East Side and get on like a house on fire – can I be some sort of consultant on the show? Like, wafting around set, advising?Visit Beth Morrey's website.
The casting director would also be me, and I would meet lots of people I admire for expensive dinners, and gush over them before selecting the following stellar cast: The main character of Gwen (who is me) would be played by Tina Fey. I have been devoted to her for years and love everything she does. I recently watched The Four Seasons, which has similar vibes to Isabella’s Not Dead. It’s the same life stage, similar humor and a bit of travel, so the tie-in works nicely. Maybe I can also be in the next series of The Four Seasons, or at least stay in the hotels with them while they’re making it. After that, Tina and I become best friends and I will be very busy working on other projects with her and hanging out, but I would still manage to cast someone incredibly glamorous to play the elusive Isabella. Perhaps Kristin Scott-Thomas, who has the right slightly brittle elegance.
Morag, Gwen’s mad mother-in-law, would be played by a national treasure with comedy chops – someone like Lily Tomlin, Catherine O’Hara or Bette Midler. They could have a lot of fun with the character, who is a very strong flavor. Gwen’s husband Angus would be played by someone looming, mild, but with the ability to be quite annoying – maybe Vince Vaughn? Gwen’s friend Min might prove an interesting challenge – she is deaf and, ideally, I’d cast a deaf actress in the role. It could be an opportunity to audition a great new talent, but I’d be looking for the style and energy of Maggie Q, who I recently saw in Ballard – an excellent series. For the rest of Gwen’s hockey team chums, I’d recruit various actresses from Saturday Night Live who I ardently admire – Kate McKinnon, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler. The whole thing somehow ends with me as a guest host of SNL doing a hilarious skit with Ayo Edebiri and Paul Rudd. Then we have a massive party and I get to tell Jennifer Aniston that I like her hair.
The hangover the next day is not much fun but I stir myself for a New York Times feature on middle-aged British writers who are taking the US by storm. Mario Testino photographs me in Central Park flanked by two enormous poodles, and Taffy Brodesser-Akner congratulates me on social media. Oh, and obviously the film of Isabella’s Not Dead wins a million awards and I get to go to the Oscars dressed by Valentino and squired by Paul Rudd, my new boyfriend.
But, you know, I haven’t really thought about it.
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Writers Read: Beth Morrey (April 2022).
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--Marshal Zeringue
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