FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES THAT TOM CRUISE WAS MISCAST AS LESTAT, THIS IS YOUR PLACE. AND IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, GO READ THE BOOK. OR GO SEE THE MOVIE.

THIS IS WHERE WE FANTASY CAST BOOKS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE INTO MOVIES, AND BOOKS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT EVER BECOME MOVIES. WHETHER THEY SHOULD OR NOT IS A WHOLE OTHER BLOG. AND IT'S SOMEONE ELSE'S

10.09.2010

Ann casts HeartSick

HeartSick, by Chelsea Cain, is the kind of thriller that sticks with you for a while after you've finished reading it. The violence is horrific, but so is the psychological torture and anguish the four main characters endure.


Gretchen Lowell is a serial killer who was at it for at least ten years. Archie Sheridan is the cop who spends ten years on the task force created to stop her. Gretchen traps Archie and tortures him nearly to death until, inexplicably, she saves his life and turns herself in.


Gretchen is impossibly beautiful, brilliant, cool, elegant, and cruel. There are dozens of women who could pull off this character; some of them that I considered are...

  • Catherine Deneuve - she's too old now, but remember her in The Hunger?
  • Gwyneth Paltrow - she's too tall to match the description in the book, but could definitely handle the acting part.
  • Kristen Bell - I've actually never seen anything she's done, but she looks the part.
  • Monica Potter - Jezzie in Along Came a Spider was cold and beautiful.
  • Charlize Theron - nearly perfect. She was actually my number one choice until a friend suggested...
Grace Kelly - an absolutely inspired choice. Thanks David!

Archie Sheridan is introduced as the broken man that Gretchen made of him. Through flashbacks, we go through torture with him, and we get some glimpses of the man he was before. He will never fully recover physically, and is addicted to vicodin. He's got the worst ever case of Stockholm Syndrome. I don't remember much of a physical description of him in the book, but had the sense that he was kind of average in looks and build. I cast Russell Crowe. I immediately thought of him because he so wonderfully portrayed Maximus, a man who had a similar fate in Gladiator.

Susan Ward is a journalist who is assigned to do a piece on Archie. She's smart, and a case of arrested development - she's emotionally stuck in high school (she has pink hair), a place she hated. I can't help but cast Allison Scagliotti, who plays Claudia in Warehouse 13. In fact, I am casting Claudia.

Henry Sobol is Archie's partner. He feels horribly guilty about his inability to find and save Archie from Gretchen. They're working together again to catch a new serial killer, and Henry tries to save Archie from himself and his obsession with Gretchen. John Goodman seemed ideal, but too large in every way. I also thought of John Belushi. He was so good in Continental Divide. Go rent it if you haven't seen it. I finally selected Jim Belushi. I think that he has the right combination of toughness and gentleness.


What do you think of this cast? I'm really looking forward to continue reading the series. The next one, Sweetheart, has Gretchen Lowell escaped from prison. Will Archie be able to catch her?



Posted by Ann at 4:34 PM
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