TGIF, folks. It’s Friday, so welcome to another installment of Casting Call, in which my fellow YA-lovers YA Crush, The Grown-Up YA, Gone Pecan and The Book Addict’s Guide and I pick a book we think would make a fabulous film and then pick our dream casts for the book’s movie adaptation. This week we’re casting “Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight” by Jennifer E. Smith. I had to consult our contributor Keely to make sure we were casting just the right person, since I wasn’t able to finish the book last week. Still, she assures me our picks are spot-on.
Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan’s life. Having missed her flight, she’s stuck at JFK airport and late to her father’s second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley’s never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport’s cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he’s British, and he’s sitting in her row.
A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?
Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it
This week we’re each casting several characters. Keely and I worked together on the following:
Keely pictured Oliver as a clever British guy who wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous (at least at first glance) but who could obviously be charming and funny and quirky enough to make you fall for him after only one night together (no, not THAT kind of night!). We know we cast him just a couple of weeks ago as Four, but Keely *swears* he’s the right Oliver.
If you’ve seen her in “The United States of Tara,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” or “21 Jump Street,” you know that Larson is a gifted young starlet with serious acting chops. Keely says Hadley needs to bring the angst, and Brie could definitely do that. Plus, I think she’d kill the pivotal sequence donning the bridesmaid dress and going to be there for her guy.
Greg Kinnear as Mr. Sullivan
We love Greg Kinnear, and he is exactly the kind of actor who could pull off a professorial father who’s still charming enough to attract a younger woman. He’s good at playing dads, and we’d welcome seeing him as Hadley’s dad.
Emily Mortimer as Charlotte
Emily Mortimer is inherently posh and put-together and not nearly in enough movies if you ask me. She’s a capable actress who can swing between sophisticated (“Match Point”) to frazzled (“My Idiot Brother”), from cool to neurotic. She’d make a great Charlotte — Hadley’s soon-to-be stepmother.
Stay tuned next week when we cast “Anna and the French Kiss” by Stephanie Perkins.
Honesty Clause: In our development of this feature we discovered that the book blog Lit Snit featured “Casting Call Fridays.” Our Casting Call feature is in no way purposefully copying or stealing this idea and any similarities is purely coincidental. Also, you should check out their casting because it rocks!
seriously great picks! i really considered Brie Larson, as well. She’s great. Love Greg & Emily, too. And of course, Nicholas, so adorable. I think you did a phenomenal job.
Thanks, I really dig Brie Larson. She’s much more of a hipster than Hadley, but I think she could pull it off! Thanks for swinging by; this one required a long, long, long phone convo with my friend and fellow TLR contributor 😉
I really love your picks! Every single one is perfect. Fabulous job!
Ha. I bet you say that to all the girls :-p
Oh I love Brie Larson! I can’t believe I didn’t even have her in my choices.
Great picks, Sandie! ALthough, for some reason I always feel like Greg Kinnear is a bad guy…. Although I guess he kind of is in the book (at least in Hadley’s eyes) so that makes perfect sense!
Sorry my comment was so late too!
PS- Totally understand your comment about Alex “Pretty”fer (LOL!) I actually had no idea he was such a douche in real life until I decided to cast him! It was really hard to find someone I envisioned as Oliver though 🙂
Great picks! I’m pretty sure Nicholas Hault is exactly how I pictured Oliver in my mind! I can’t say I pictured Hadley as anything, but I really think Brie Larson would be great! And Greg Kinnear… sigh… he’d make an excellent dad! Great job!
Sandie – was totally great to help you out with this one. 🙂 I adore the book and would love nothing more than to see it made into a movie. Now I’ve got to go peruse everyone else’s picks…
Harry Styles from One Direction as Oliver! OK, I have no idea if he can act. I, or the 17 year old me, just thinks he’s adorable. The 37 year old me respectably likes Clive Owen, of course.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1692762/ I think Nathanial Buzolic would make an awesome Oliver!
Idk I always imagined Violet as Jennifer Aniston and Hadley as Britt Robertson.