The AS THE WORLD DIES trilogy was optioned for TV in 2009. Yes, over two years ago. At the time many people hoped that the option meant that we would get to see a zombie TV show in the very near future.
To some degree they were right. Soon after the AS THE WORLD DIES trilogy was picked up by Tor, AMC announced THE WALKING DEAD would be made into a TV show. The producer who had optioned my books had hoped ATWD would be the first zombie TV show, but we were beaten to the punch by Frank Darabont. It was soon apparent that Hollywood was going to sit back and wait to see how THE WALKING DEAD TV show performed before greenlighting anymore zombie TV shows.
The last few years has been an tremendous learning experience for me. Just not about how the traditional publishing world works, but also about how Hollywood works. Every book I have written thus far has been optioned for a possible film or TV project. I have seen the various projects moving through the process at different speeds. I have read three scripts based on my work and have enjoyed having some input. I have spoken to the director attached to one of the projects, which was very exciting. I've also learned a lot about what goes into making the magic of Hollywood happen.
Will there be an AS THE WORLD DIES TV show? I really have no idea. I'm an optimist by nature, but a realist by life lessons. If it happens, I will be ecstatic. If not, I will still have learned a lot about the process of bringing a project to the small (and big) screen and how to write a script! I have been very lucky in that everyone I have worked with so far has been a really great person.
A lot of my fans ask me about casting of a possible TV show and who I would like to see in the roles of my characters. I don't cast actors in the roles of my characters when I write. My characters just tend to look like themselves. But I have given some thought to who I would like to see bring Jenni and Katie and the others to life.
Jenni and Katie
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| Kristanna Loken is a fan favorite for Katie and I have to agree. She also shares Kaite's Nordic heritage and bisexuality. |
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| Oddette Annable strongly resembles my vision of Jenni and is half-Latina. |
Juan and Travis
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| Mexican actor Kuno Becker just looks so much like the Juan in my imagination it's kind of creepy. Toss on a cowboy hat and he's perfect. |
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| Actor Greg Vaughan is a Texan! He also looks very similar to the Travis of my imagination. He gets my vote. |
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| British Actress Geraldine James is not only a great on the silver screen, she strongly resembles the Nerit of my imagination. |
Those are my picks for the five primary characters in the AS THE WORLD DIES universe. Here are a few random supporting cast member ideas.
Peggy
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| Actress Shaela Cook would rock it as Peggy. She has that tiny, but fierce thing going on. I could easily see her giving everyone the hell they deserve while trying to keep the fort running. |
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| Gabourey Sidibe just has this coy little look that I love that reminds me of Lenore. |
| Morena Baccarin is not only beautiful, I think she'd do a killer job portraying Lydia, Katie's ghostly dead wife. |
Yolanda
| Jasmine Guy would make a wonderful Yolanda. I could easily see her playing the role of Peggy's foil. |
Those are some of my ideas.
What do YOU think?
I love the cast selection. Some are people I thought would be perfect and others are people I hadn't thought of who fit the character great...awesome selections. Here's hoping it works out as I would love to see the show come to life.
ReplyDeleteI like the selection, it also gives me an idea of what you had in mind with the appearance of the characters.
ReplyDeleteI always imagined Peggy to be an older woman, and as for Nerit i think the actress you chose is dead on.
AND Kuno Becker as Juan? I love it! The fact that I had a teenage crush on him growing up certainly doesn't hurt either! :D
@Anon,
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping we'll see the ATWD characters on the little screen in the near future. Keep your fingers crossed.
@Claudia,
It's so strange that people define Peggy as an "older" woman. She's in her mid to late thirties (like the actress) and has a very young son. I have also had people tell me they see her as fat, ugly, slathered in makeup, and with big 80's hair. Yet Peggy is described as always wearing a pony tail and makeup free. I sometimes wonder if its because she's in such a powerful position in the town that certain stereotypes kick in.
As for Kuno Becker...Oh..yeah....
*grin*
Rhiannon
It is interesting to see who you as the author would pick vs who in my mind I slide into the roles.
ReplyDeleteI'm always down for more zombies so would be thrilled to see this as a tv show or at the very least a miniseries.