Mentally Casting Characters

[fedorable1]

Hello, all.

For every movie I write - and I'm sure many others do this to - I have a tendency to cast in my head who I think would best fit the part. Sometimes it's after the script is complete, sometimes before it's started, and anytime inbetween. A few times I would even make a character sheet with a portrait of the actor(ess) beside the character name/description as a referrence. The actor(ress) choice almost never has any direct bearing on the development of the character, but it helps to visualize their look and occassionally mannerisms.

Has anyone else taken it this far, or am I just psycho?

[Mac H.]

There is a very nice summary of this technique at: http://www.teako170.com/faq3.html

To quote a short excerpt:

Casting your movie in your mind's eye makes it easier to write a coherent character ...


What this buys you is consistency. Once you know Redford's playing the part, you can instantly see that certain lines of dialog are just wrong. Redford's character would never say something coarse, or cruel, or pretentious. Cast Redford in your mind, and the coarseness, cruelty or pretentiousness of certain lines will suddenly jump out at you, even though they seemed fine before. Similarly, certain actions become impossible. Redford's character would never pick a fight, nor would he betray a friend.

...You're not really using the star, of course. You're using their screen persona.
...


Do not tell anyone you've cast the movie. Let the lines speak for themselves. If you've done your job right, everyone will know who they'd like to see play the role.

...

Casting your movie is not taught in schools, I guess because teachers fear it might kill your originality. Casting your movie is a technique of craft, not a technique of great art.

...

Note, however, that you cannot depend on your casting of the movie to make a character interesting or likeable. We, your readers, do not have Harrison Ford in our mind when we start reading. We will not start out caring about your lead character. You have to make him so compelling that we would care about him even if he were played by, say, Jim Belushi. In fact, if you cast an absolutely uncharismatic and neutral star in your mind's eye, you can easily see if your dialog and situations are truly effective enough to make us care about him.
It seems like a nice technique, so, no, you are not psycho.
Or if you are, it is for much more interesting reasons ...

Mac
(PS: That page has a lot of useful stuff on it. Definitely worth checking out..)

[fedorable1]

Thanks, Mac. I feel much better. :)

[write4details]

Not so fast, you might still be a psycho. :)

I think a LOT of people do stuff like this, and not just in screenplays. For that matter, your "casting" doesn't have to be an actor. It could be a guy you know, or a character in something else. And frequently is.

I got a big breakthrough on a character (which is when they start telling their own story and moves) when I realized that my character was a Kathleen Turner character. Not Turner herself, not any role in particular...just the idea of the kind of women Turner does. (Which really is all you know of her...unless you're really lucky)

Actually the interplay between actors, characters and real people is a complex one. You'd be nuts not to ride it.

[Maryn]

There are, of course, authors who are quite open about who they cast as they write. Anne Rice was telling interviewers that she cast the young Rutger Hauer in her erotica before she ever met the man. (It's been arranged since then, as part of promotional appearances.)

I've wondered if he was flattered or creeped out.

Maryn

[Joe Calabrese]

Although I wouldn't never admit as much to a prospective agent or producer, I always have a dream cast when I write. My last script's lead was tailor made for Orlando Bloom right from the start. I try however, not to cast a character that only one actor could ever play-- that would be suicide.

[NikeeGoddess]

the best scenario from a marketing standpoint - you know you have a winner when during a pitch the producer asks, "who did you have in mind playing this part?" and he loves your idea. he will love it even more if that perfect actor you're writing for has his or her own production company which means more greenlighting power.

[write4details]

I think casting has benefits for writing, but seriously doubt that anybody being pitched to takes it seriously. There is absolutely no connection between your mental casting and actual casting. The chances that you actor you name would be postive is about equal to the chance it would be negative. Your opinion on who should play your parts is totally worthless actually.

But it's a writing technique.

[Nivvie]

Ooh, me too.

I go a little further by putting together a page of pictures so I can see my 'people', keep them solid in my mind.

I use photos of paintings and locations to picture things clearly, but it's all just for me, as a tool, I'd never name names outside of my head.
Plus, sometimes these people aren't famous anyway, or even actors. Just people I know, or musicians, polititians, etc.

[Maryn]

Nivvie, today my critique group met and one of our members spent quite a bit of time showing a photo album of pix and images she'd gathered to help her with her WIP. I'm glad it helps her, but I find it too, too distracting to see that her hero is a guy with terrible stomach problems (a print ad for an anti-diarrheal) and his girlfriend is a perky TV chef.

I don't think I could disconnect the person from their public life as an actor or model and make them fit my fictional one. Do you ever have trouble making them behave as you need them to?

Maryn

P.S. If you're in a critique group, don't share the photo album, okay?

[IWrite]

I always reach a moment in my scripts (usually in the second or third draft) where I can't imagine anyone playing the role. And that is the moment I know that I've totally nailed the characters - when they no longer feel like characters, they feel like actual people.

The first thing I do when I reach that point is force myself to come up with a list of names for the role - always including at least a few A-list actors - because without exception every producer I have worked with has at one time or another asked me who I see in a particular role - not that they take my suggestions - and I would never volunteer that information before being asked - but like I said sooner or later once you're in development it seems to come up.

And they always seem to like it when I throw a few big names into the list. I guess it's because deep down, they like to think that they may have a shot of snaring an A-Lister for their movies - even if the reality is that their budget can't carry the asking price of certain talent. Although sometimes having a big name attached can enable a producer to up their budget.

[Nivvie]

Oh Maryn, poor diarrhoea man! She should write that into his character!

How on earth can he save the day if he can't venture more than a few feet from a toilet!
You know, that's a film I'd actually quite like to see....hehehe...

I see what you're saying, and don't worry, my page of pics is almost top secret, as they behave how my perception of them is, plus, a few of these people are my in-laws etc, and I if they knew they were inspiration for evil they'd be highly insulted. And real photo albums are boring at the best of times, let alone made-up ones. I don't know how you remained polite!

I use an amalgam of personality traits, and often I know nothing about some of these people. For example, I once write a horrible short horror story that featured a Victorian Baby Farmer (for those that don't know, they took in illegitimate children for a fee, then usually murdered them, some killed hundreds children), and for the image I used a picture of Amelia Dyer, one of the worst, but as I knew so little about her personality, I mashed her up with some of the behavioural traits of a foster mother I'd rather forget.

[write4details]

her hero is a guy with terrible stomach problems (a print ad for an anti-diarrheal) and his girlfriend is a perky TV chef.

Hell, that suggests a plot right there

[Mightypen71]

I tend to imagine fave actors in the various roles and set a basic path of their plots/subplots and develop backgrounds. I massage the characters further as I imagine their stories, stretch them here and there to be more unique, and fit them into the overall story. As I do, I lose all reminders of the initial actor inspirations and they become more real and general enough that they could be played by a wide range of actors. But I can only do this after cleansing the soul, meaning, following a pint of dark lager and an episode of "Surreal Life."