Eileen Cook's "Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood"

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Eileen Cook’s first book, a romantic comedy titled Unpredictable, was released in February 2008. Her next book, a young adult novel, What Would Emma Do, was released in December 2008. Her latest, Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood, came out at the end of 2009.

Here she shares some thoughts on a dream cast for an adaptation of Getting Revenge:

I’ve been asked before who I would like to star in a movie based on my book and I stink at it. I come up with one name and then change my mind and then spend hours on IMDb trying to figure out a better plan B. I base my problem on casting my movie/book on three issues:

1. As I write, I don’t have specific actors in mind. I suspect this is because the characters are unformed when I start the project. I am one of those people who writes my way into a story.

2. When I think of teen movies I get stuck in the movies I knew growing up so I end up wanting to cast Molly Ringwald, who has to be in her 40’s now and likely isn’t doing a lot of teen revenge movies.

3. I start thinking of actors I would like to meet rather than who would be good for a particular role/character. For example, I want to meet Colin Firth. The fact that there is not role for him in the movie just makes me want to tack an additional chapter onto the book so I can make it work.

These issues make me think I should leave the casting to the professionals and stick to the writing and hope they at least invite me to the swanky parties.

However, I do have a love of classic movies and since you didn’t say the actors had to be living, I’m going to go that route. The main character in Getting Revenge is Helen. She should be smart, with a lot of moxie, so the role will go to a young Katherine Hepburn. Lauren, the villain of my book, needs to be the school elite. gorgeous, but with a touch of cruelty. For this role I’m going to choose a high school version of Bette Davis. The love interest of the book is easy. Christopher has that easy charm and a sense of humor. He has a killer half smile that melts your knees. A teenage Cary Grant should do perfectly!

I’d love to hear who readers of the book think should be in the movie.

Watch the Getting Revenge trailer, and learn more about the author and her books at Eileen Cook’s website.

--Marshal Zeringue