11/22/63 Fantasy Cast

Wow. It's been so long since I actually opened this account, let alone write an entry. But I was so excited when I found out that Hulu was working on a web series based on 11/22/63 by Stephen King, that I just couldn't contain myself any longer. Guys, another King series!!


So it's very easy to get lost when adapting a book to the small screen. I find it almost more painful to watch than a silver screen adaptation that robbed the gold from the soul of my favourite book. If it can't be adapted into something better, than don't touch it. Right?

And I am so biased when it comes to King adaptations because frankly, they can't go wrong. They just can't. There is too much framework and solid foundations in Stephen King's body of work that it's almost impossible to fuck it up. People have been adapting King novels for over three decades, ranging from Carrie to The Shining and without forgetting the abysmal yet still entertaining Storm of the Century.

Lately, King has been dropping bricks for novels and his two latest projects, Under the Dome and 11/22/63, have both been critical and commercials successes. Under the Dome was not only a fantastic book, but Brian K. Vaughn (peace be upon him) also managed to make it into a top-rated TV drama which saw it change major key elements that grounded the book in science-fiction, while still retaining that very quirky side of King that either makes or breaks the tone of the work.

I'm just thinking about It, where King's macabre view on childhood was mixed with a somewhat comical view on adulthood. It was a perfect blend of horror and slapstick. Or how about Pet Sematary, where we have zombie cats and murderous children all wrapped up in the same movie. It blended scare and laughs brilliantly.

With that being said, I hope they keep the quirky style that has been attributed to King while not being afraid of exploring the macabre and mysterious point of view of one of America's most recognized author.

You can read my Under the Dome Fantasy Cast blog entry here and see how my wishlist did not come to life. At all. lol. Still wish they had picked better actors. Buggers.

Now on to my top ten list of characters I believe should carry forward with the adaptation and which actor I would like to see portray them. Enjoy!


Milo Ventimiglia as Jake Epping AKA George Amberson

Jake Epping is the protagonist of this time-travelling story but also the antagonist, in the sense that he is creating all of these problems by changing what was. And who better to play Happy-Yet-Sad than Milo Ventimiglia, the king of the happysad face. He also has the ability to play older and younger quite well as evidence by his portrayal of Peter in Heroes. Overall, Milo has the sex appeal and charm to carry the weight of a character that is both troubled and optimistic, both in the past, the present, and the future. Take note Hulu, I want Milo.


Gemma Arterton as Sadie Dunhill

Sadie Dunhill is the typical 60's woman; soft, gentile, and loyal to her man. And what is great about this character is her willingness to become a modern woman; a desire that sets off a chain of events that puts Jake's mission in jeopardy. King has always been good at writing strong female characters, and he doesn't disappoint this time again. So it took all of one second to think of Gemma Arterton in this role: she's young, she's soft-spoken, and she can pull off the complexity of Sadie's character.


Hal Holbrook as Al Templeton

Al Templeton is the man that starts the fire but doesn't stay around to see its path of destruction. He's a very mysterious character and has a small but pivotal role in the novel. That is why I hope they expand his role for the Hulu adaptation. So many questions derive from this character: how did he find the timeloop? What does he know about the future that makes him so determined to send Jake, specifically, to the past? Why doesn't he keep this for him and take over the world? I know Holbrook is on the verge of dying but this man is flawless when it comes to drama and mystery. He has the face for it! Somebody give this man a role with substance!!


Scott Patterson as Deke Simmons

If the term "Bromance" had existed in the 60s, Deke Simmons and Jake's relationship would have been the perfect embodiment of it. Deke is not only Jake's best friend in Jodie circa 1960, but he's also his confident and helps Jake move along in his mission. I have a soft spot for Deke because he just doesn't know how to be mean-spirited. If there was ever a character that gave me hope for humanity, it's Deke Simmons. Scott Patterson has those charming eyes that would make anyone believe in him. And yes, another The Event alumni on the list.


Monica Potter as Mimi Corcoran

Mimi Corcoran is an odd character in the sense that she doesn't fit the 60's Texas era. I always suspected that Mimi knew more than she let on about Jake/George and the whole timeloop but it's never explicitly written in the novel. So I really hope they cast a big name to play this part and expand her character to someone more dubious or all-knowing. And I'm a sucker for Monica Potter's dramatic timing and southern flare.



Derek Luke as Harry Dunning

Harry Dunning is the janitor at the school that Jake works at prior to him jumping back in time. He's a very soft-spoken, quiet man who shares his childhood horror story with Jake, which touches the latter's heart so much that he jeopardizes his mission in the past to reconcile Harry's traumatic and violent childhood. During this time, Jake stumbles upon the kids in Derry. You know, the same kids who battled an evil clown in another King novel... Plus it would be the perfect role for Derek Luke, since he still has those boyish looks even though he's far from being a boy.


Lili Taylor as Ellen Dockerty

Ellen Dockerty is the quintessential stuck-up teacher that everyone had at least once in their lifetime. She plays by the book and her loyalty to the rules of life are challenged when she meets George/Jake in Jodie circa 1960. It takes a special kind of charm to pull off this kind of character because Ellen is both tough yet maternal, impulsive yet instinctive. And Lili Taylor proved more than once that she can play a character with dual personalities. Mel Gibson's Ransom, anyone?



Michael Stahl-David as Lee Harvey Oswald

This is where it gets interesting. Lee Harvey Oswald is the man responsible for gunning down and assassinating former president, and civil rights activist, John F. Kennedy. King's approach to this historical event is both well-researched and thoroughly detailed. Although he manages to humanize Oswald, he also doesn't back down from the hard facts: Oswald was deranged and believed himself to be a messiah of sorts. It won't be easy to play this part, but I believe Michael Stahl-David would be perfect at portraying Oswald, insanity and all. Whoever gets cast will surely have a lot of material to work with so I'm expecting a flawless performance for this part.


Sarah Roemer as Marina Prusakova

Another The Event alumni! Sarah Roemer is the only person I had in mind when thinking of Marina Prusakova, Oswald's mouthy yet loyal Russian bride. She stole my heart with her portrayal of Leila in The Event, and I'm hoping she does the same as Prusakova. It's going to be a tough part to play since the role Prusakova played in the assassination is both theoretical and documented, with everyone agreeing that she was kept in the dark about it all. I hope they venture with this role and flesh out the character of Prusakova as she was both the lover and the confident of Lee Harvey Oswald. Nobody knew him like she did.


Gil Bellows as James Hosty

James Hosty is the real life detective who worked on the JFK assassination and King took that ambiguity (a lot of conspiracy theorists believe Hosty played a part in the assassination) to insert Hosty into the narrative of 11/22/63. Throughout the novel, it is implied that Hosty has some sense of what is going on with Jake/George and every good mystery show needs a snoopy detective. And Gil Bellows personifies that characterization flawlessly. If nobody in this list gets cast except one, I hope it's Gil Bellows.


Agree or disagree with this fantasy cast? Either way, I think King fans are in for a treat! :)


Candles are out,
Eleven's Ink

Eleven's Ink on... Letting Go and How Hard it Is To Do.

I often get asked how I feel about one topic or another. I am very opinionated and tend to be a bit more verbose than I should. The fact that I used verbose should be an indicator. The fact that I explained why is just proof beyond proof.


WTF Happened?!
So you just said goodbye to a friend, a lover, an important person in your life, and you're trying to assess the information. You re-read the texts, the FB messages; you grab at all the pieces that fell and try to assemble the puzzle. You think you have the answers, but every answer leads to another question. Did I end it? Did they end it? How did it come to this? You Google search "How to cope with endings" and "How to start anew" simultaneously until you realise that a Netflix Marathon is a hell of a better idea.

It's totally fine. I'm okay, I swear. KILL ME NOW!

You've had your first night's sleep. You probably slept like a baby cause your mind totally warped at the end of the season 3 finale of Dexter. You're most likely groggy and - OMG YOU JUST REMEMBER THAT YOUR RELATIONSHIP/FRIENDSHIP/KINSHIP ENDED. It's fine, you say. You calm yourself down and decide a shower is perfect to wash away the memories. Totally fine, right? Wrong, and cue the thought process: "how the fuck did this happen? Why aren't they texting me? Should I text them? No, no I'm totally fine. Don't cry, don't cry. Smile! Omg I'm crying. No I'm fine!" You basically want to place your own crazy self in an asylum for weeks on weeks to numb out the pain.

But everything was perfect!
You've gathered the puzzle pieces, but the end result does not resemble the picture on the box at all. You've accepted that it's your fault, their fault, your fault, their fault, and now you just want to plump on the couch with jalapeno pizza and forget it all. But you see their face in one of  the jalapeno slices. And the melted cheese reminds you of a steamy night you had with them. Oh and that fucking marinara sauce smells exactly like them!! And you finish by throwing the pizza on the wall and remembering just how magical everything was. The laughter, the excitement, the sharing of stories. What was so horrible about it?!?!?!


I'm the bomb.

You're done agonizing over whose to blame, why you're feeling crazy, and you've removed the rose-coloured glasses and guess what? It's time to take a selfie! You've lost weight, you went to the gym, you've been getting a shit-load of compliments and you're starting to feel awesomazing about yourself. The mission at this point is to cause as much accidents on the road as possible cause you just know people are swervin' and dodgin' over your looks.

BOOM. Explosion!

It's been like three days now and this whole process is amazing. You're glowing, you're flexing your muscles (guys), your pushing up that bra (girls), and you're moving on. Cause you look flawless, right? Wrong. All that excitement has finally fizzled and you're about to explode. This is the part where you throw everything of theirs in the trash, write obscene thoughts down in which you fantasize about murdering the bejesus out of them. You can also punch pillows and shit but for maximum effect, invest in a punching bag.

Should I or shouldn't I, that is the question.

You're passed out in pizza slices with wine and vodka stains all over the god damn floor. You're a mess. You've slept through the last four episodes of Dexter. You haven't showered in well over three days and it's starting to show. You've basically lost all sense of survival; get it together. In your mind, getting it together means accepting that it ended but HELLO, that's not what you want. You desperately search for your cellphone and think you found it when in reality, it's the TV remote. You panic. You NEED to reach them to let them know that it's all a mistake, everything will be okay and let's just forget this happen, k? K.

Yeah, no. Then you realise that this is all one-sided. "What if they don't want the same thing? What if they don't reply? What if they blocked your number? What if they laugh when they see how much you're still caught up?" You look at your phone, you've typed the message already (we're on the same page here, readers. I'm living this - you can't deny it.) and you're thumb is so close to the send button that your fingerprints can basically scratch the surface of your phone. And then you think: "But what if they feel the same? What If they are only waiting for me to write back? Maybe they're just shy or scared of what is going to happen." What to do, right?!


I'll just subtlety let you know I'm still alive. I'll be over here if you change your mind.
I cringe cause I did this. But hey, we're only human right! You've obviously decided NOT to contact the person cause "I'm such a strong individual." The phone is down, but not for long. Instead, you've switched on the Wi-Fi and liked their latest Instagram photo, you poked them on FB, and you shamelessly retweeted their last tweet about popcorn being the best snack out there. You want to tell them you miss them so much but are so afraid of the reaction that you go on this crazy tangent of just creeping the fuck out of them. Don't. Do. This. Go back to Netflix and dirty pizza slices.


Snap back to reality
It's been close to a week by now and you haven't lost all your hair. Your local mall is still up and running. The sky is still blue and Rob Ford is still mayor of Toronto. Clearly, the world didn't end. You decide it's time to shower and shut off Netflix (but omg what will happen in season 8 of Dexter?!?!). You're still talking about them but less frequently. You have occasional bursts of tears and you question absolutely everything. But you've slowly started realising the world outside again. You see people smiling back at you; children waving as you walk by them, head down and solemn. The sun is even peaking to say a short yet welcomed "hello!". You feel like things can get slowly get back to how it was before.


LOL, life's a bitch - it ain't this easy

And then a week and one day passes and you repeat the process. Oh you thought it was over? LOL, life doesn't work that way. If life was easy the saying wouldn't be "Life's a bitch", it would be "Life's a slut." But it ain't easy. There is no recipe for success, or shortcuts to happiness. You have to balance yourself out again and it can take time. So take it, enjoy it, live it. Cry it out, talk it out, laugh it out. The worst thing you can do is censor your emotions for whatever reason: "Because guys don't cry." "Because I want to show him I'm a lady." "Because I don't want them to see me weep." The relationship is over, so worry about yourself and what you have to do to move on and be happy. Life is short, love again.

But...But...But...

There is not but. There is just life and their is time. And both need you right now. It's tempting as fuck to drop everything and rekindle but what if it is worst? What if the person moved on already? What if you're already a memory? Sure it could also be: What if they miss me too? What if they are waiting for my call? But the key words here are: What if?

You don't know. You can't know. It's up to you to decide if you want to put yourself out there or not and risk getting hurt again. It can also be the complete opposite and you might find them responsive to your request. Take a chance if you want. Or don't if that is what you choose. It's a personal decision but hopefully you found laughter and a bit of truth in this blog post. It definitely made me feel better.

If you need to talk or feel alone and have no one to talk to, feel free to contact me. You can find me on facebook by clicking the link on the right or on twitter at @Elevensink or on instagram at @K_kiddo86. You can also leave a comment on here.


Candles are out,
Eleven's Ink.

Eleven's Ink on...Awesomeness!

I often get asked how I feel about one topic or another. I am very opinionated and tend to be a bit more verbose than I should. The fact that I used verbose should be an indicator. The fact that I explained why is just proof beyond proof.


WTF?!:

It takes a lot for me to qualify someone as being genuinely "awesome". There is a trial part where I generally just groove around someone to get a sense of how their fun gravitates around their logic. It's all about balance really: equal parts intelligence, equal parts humour. You need to have both to be worthy of this title.


LOL!!:

Once the X is matched neatly with the Y and a yingyang of LAUGHS! and BRAINS! is created, that is when you start to see the foundation of awesomeness. It's such a fantastic event to witness, this creation of sheer awesomeness. I suggest you bring sunglasses and a bit of wine along for the ride. You've been warned.



OMG!!:
The best part of this trifecta is, you gots it baby, the climax! That is when you see the "ok i'm cool" blossom into "Move bitch, i'm awesome". Seeing that state progress in its natural habitat is rare and should be taken advantage of. Film it, snap a picture - hey draw the fucking event if you have Picasso's talents! Don't have talent? Smudge paint on a canvas like a three year old and call it art. As long as you remember vividly the details of witnessing such perfection.


XOX!!:

Once you've explored the universe of awesomeness, assured it's capabilities of life-support, and landed on Planet Fuck Yeah!, then you are good to remove gear and appreciate the land of awesome. Feel the earth, breathe in the air, run through the meadows, and swim across those oceans of joy and excitement. Be happy that you landed on a planet that welcomes your kind. Be awesome!





Not feeling awesome today? Think of good memories, good people, good food. Think about how awesome you are every other day and how today is going to be jealous. You don't want that. So be awesome again!

Candles are out,
Eleven's Ink