Earlier this week I was surfing channels and caught the end of a show counting down the sexiest actors of the big screen. Newman won. No argument there. Whew, those baby blues. Okay, so I admit that I sat there all googoo eyed, but it made me wonder. I'm an extremely visual person. Not only when I'm writing, but also when I'm reading, I cast my characters. For years if a hero was blond, I visualized Redford, then Pitt or McConaughey. If he had dark hair it might be Brosnan, Depp, or Keanu and there are many, many others. All builds, personality types, and ages. I cast the heroines also and even at times secondary characters. It makes the book come alive for me.
Am I the only crazy person who does this? When you pick up a new book, do you cast your characters?
Just for fun, who are the actors (male or female) who show up most often?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
20 comments:
Sometimes I do, not always. It seems I cast the men more often than the women.
That's exactly what I do when I read and write! I use a lot of the same actors you do too!
When I was writing my last hero, I gave a general descr. to my sister and had her calling off actors that came to mind until it clicked and I said "He's the one!".
Linda, funny but I work similar. I always cast the men and sometimes cast the women. Why is that? The first book I sold the hero was cast day 1, but the heroine took much longer and ended up being a cross between two actresses and a friend of mine's daughter.
Anonymous, my critique partners and I get in long discussions about who to cast sometimes. For two of us casting the right hero is hugely important. For the third, not so much. But we have to cast them for her in order to help the book come alive for us.
Matthew Mac-never-can-spell-it-right is my fave!! I adore his smile!!! I keep magazine clip files though and find that it makes it easier to write with a visual for the hero and heroine.
Hey CP,
You know my faves I think and they're not usually guys you like. We have different tastes. But hey, if we liked the same guys, we'd be fighting over them all the time right? So, this is better.
I LOVE Gerard Butler and have cast him twice--once with long hair and a beard (as he looked in his movie Beowulf) he's my pirate in the book I have out this month, The Pirate's Possession (red Sage Secrets 28) and once as a tough Air Force fighter pilot (as he looked in Laura Croft) in my Blaze series set in Las Vegas.
Other actors I love are Christian Bale, Eric Dane, Eric Bana, and that POLO player turned POLO model, Nacho. He's my Italian prince. YUM. I also like Simon Baker, Russell Crow, and Daniel Craig. I guess I have a thing for the Brit and Aussies. :)
Hey Laura, Matthew is hot. He's just so full of life and mischief.
Juliet, you are right about our tastes, but we do like some of the same ones. We've both cast Russell Crow and he was totally different persona in each story. Gotta love those Aussies.
Nobody has mentioned heroines???
I like my heroines to be more simple, everyday, girl next door types. Attractive, yes, but not in the plastic-remodeled-brazilian-beach way. I love it when a really hunky guy has the hots for a simple girl. I think it automatically gives him more character...makes him less shallow, more down-to-earth, and sincere. Besides, most of us are average women dreaming of really hot guys thinking we're to-die-for! That's part of the fantasy in reading romance!
That said, when books describe the heroine as short-haired and spunky...I think Meg Ryan.
Yes, Meg Ryan is girl next door cute. Love her. You may have hit the nail on the head though. A really good book draws me in so well that I become the heroine and fall in love with the sexy hunk of a hero through her. Therefore, those bathing beauty types are a stretch for me. Uh, literally as I'm just shy of 5'4". ;-)
Hmm- such a fun topic! I have to say I tend to think about my heroes and cast them along the lines of an actor, rather than the heroines. For some reason the heroines just don't ever fit any one person exactly.
For favorite actors- Russel Crowe, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig- OH, Hugh Jackman!! and..Aaron Eckhardt- he's a base for the hero in a contemp RS I am working on.
Another trick I learned from Juliet- who commented earlier- is look at magazines and see some of those great male models. They are just as good to look at as the actors and sometimes, for me, frees me up to do more with the character because I don't have any of the actor's specific roles in mind.
Pam- this second Anony. is Jennifer! I guess the computer is smarter than I this Friday morning. I clicked the wrong thing and it would not write my name. Happy Blogging my friend!
My friend and chapter mate, Vicki Batman is having blog problems, but asked me to post the following.
I like all the guys mentioned above, but if I had my druthers, I like suit and tie wearing Cary Grant. He's amazingly sexy all suited up! A more here and now guy would be George Clooney.
And yes, Vicki. Although I lean toward the more casual type, both Cary Grand and George Clooney are amazingly sexy. I put Pierce Brosnan in the same category in his ability to wear suits.
Hi, Jennifer. I agree. Sometimes I will see a picture or even a real person I don't know and it sets my creative muse aflutter. One time at a Myrtle Beach restaurant the guy who waited on us was so distracting that I could hardly concentrate on eating for my muse. Smooth sexy voice and sort of a McGyveresque going on. Fun.
Boy did I have a crush on McGyver! I'd say Harrison Ford is up there too. Almost all actors of Scottish decent are hot and let's not forget musicians. There are some country music hotties out there...Keith Urban anyone?
Oh yeah, McGyver did it for me too. In fact I followed Richard Dean Anderson through various roles from General Hostpital to Stargate.
I have a long list from country music too. Keith's blond hair and those jeans. Gary Allan's eyes. Billy Currington's playfullness.
...Brad Paisley's heart when he sings "And I thought I loved you then"...
Put all that together and you have the perfect hero!
This is way too much fun.:)
Whoops...his song is just called "Then".
Yep. I do at times take characteristics from a couple different people and put that into one character. Isn't it fun to be a writer!
I don't think I have ever cast a hero or heroine. Of course, I don't watch movies, so I have very few actors or actresses to choose from.
Estella, I'm curious. Do you simply go off the description in the book? Picture on the cover? What most helps you visualize?
When I'm reading I don't cast an actual person, I just get random images of people based on the descriptions pop in my head for the characters. My imagination takes over.
Post a Comment