Casting Characters, Take 2 March 23, 2010

Earlier this year, we talked about picturing characters from books, and who might play them in movies. This is a fun topic to revisit, since there are endless possibilities of books and characters waiting to be paired with perfectly matching actors.

I love the Janet Evanovich series of novels about Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum and her supporting troop of friends, criminals and cops, some of whom are family. These are hilarious books, deserving of a full review – but I’ll save that for a Monday when I haven’t finished anything new. For now, I want to pass on this bit of news I came across today, even though its a little old: Katherine Heigl is set to play Plum in the movie version.

I’ve often thought about who would make a great Stephanie Plum, and Katherine Heigl has never, and will never be on the short list. Like many fans of the series, I have always thought Sandra Bullock (think Miss Congeniality) would be absolutely perfect for the role – but agree with the dissenters, she is now too old to play the mid-twenties Jersey-girl.

If I was casting Stephanie Plum now, I would go with someone with a comedic personality, someone who can do tough and street smart, while still being goofy and having ditzy moments. My current pick would have to be Tina Marjorino : she’s great at comedy, and she’s all grown up now!

Are you familiar with Stephanie Plum – who would you choose to play her? Any other characters you’d like to see brought to the silver screen by a particular actor?