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In your novels -- or short stories, any fiction -- do you envision any actors whom you'd like to portray your main characters? And did you have those actors in mind when you wrote the stories?

For example, I'm writing a series of modern American private eye novels, very realistic stories. Book #1 is reviewed here, see Blood Spiral.

Anyway, my protagonist private eye is someone whom I have deliberately not visualized specifically. All we know about him is that he's 5-10, late 30s or early 40s, reasonably fit but not an athlete, reasonably okay looking but not a matinee idol. I never wanted to characterize him but thinking about it the other day (which prompted this thread) I kinda think of him being portrayed by Brad Pitt. He's a sort of all-American guy who's not a super-handsome model type but ruggedly handsome. And his personality of a sort of laid back easy-going guy is like my PI.

His best pal is a tall and very nice looking homicide detective named David Meierhoff, whom I always describe as a young Elliott Gould. He's mid-30s and I can't think of a famous actor who resembles him.

But the older cop, Joe Duggan, is a ringer for actor Ned Beatty. He's based on an old pal, now at the great homicide shop in the sky, who did resemble Ned Beatty. He used to take me on ride-alongs and it was a hoot.

My other characters are described carefully but I don't have any real actors to play them. For example, the new girlfriend of my private eye is a 40-ish New Zealand gal who's a skilled surgeon. She's very petite and trim, a redhead. But she's not based on any actor or real person otherwise.

So how about your main characters? Which actors would you choose to portray them?

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Some characters materialize to me and are unique from any actor I've seen. Others come with a particular image in mind. For example, the book I'm working on now has a main character who I imagine looks very much like Theo James. Weird considering I only ever saw the guy on a canceled TV show. He's been in several movies now, but I haven't seen them.

His best pal is a tall and very nice looking homicide detective named David Meierhoff, whom I always describe as a young Elliott Gould. He's mid-30s and I can't think of a famous actor who resembles him.

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NOOR

I have never imagined an actor, actress or anyone I know or have known from my personal life as a character in anything I have ever written unless the story is nonfictional and pertains to specific people from real life.

It is an interesting question though - one which I had never considered before. In my case when I write a story the character does begin to materialize in my mind to a certain degree as a person with the normal physical (body / facial) characteristics you'd expect but they do not resemble anyone I have ever seen or known before.

My main characters tend to be between 15 and 20 years of age (at least in the first novel of a series). So I don't think about a specific actor. If I was ever fortunate enough to have one of my stories become a tv show or movie I think I would prefer to have little known actors play the parts. Let them establish what the characters are like without comparisons to the actor's previous roles.

As a writer I find it easier to write the story imagining someone in the role. It doesn't necessarily have to be an actor maybe someone I know, but I do envision people. For me I don't think I could imagine the story in my head without having people in the part. I guess that is just my way of getting the creative juices to flow forth.

I imagine "real" people too, which helps me create meaningful and realistic characters.

But the question is this: Do you imagine occasionally a certain famous actor / actress portraying your character, and if so, who? This thread is essentially whimsical, just playing around.

It's really interesting. When I write, I don't envision actors at all. I see people from my everyday life, or random people off the street, or a mixture of them. But when I read, I see actors who act out everything that I read. Perhaps it's about the creative process and how I much am involved in it.

Oh, I agree, Darkest, it's "ordinary people" whom you must emulate in your writing, so that these characters appear realistic to the reader.

My post about actors starring in your book's movie version is just a fun thought, not meant to be taken seriously.

When I wrote my novels, I had one real person, an actual Houston homicide cop whom I knew well, and I made him the old-school cop Joe Duggan.

All my other characters are either totally fictional, or maybe an amalgam of a couple of real people, a mixup of physical appearance or personality.

But this thread was only meant for fun. And since my private eye protagonist is not the typical old timer tough guy nor is he the superhero type, I kind of thought later "Who could play him best?" and I had a few thoughts, with Brad Pitt as the best pick, and then maybe Vincent D'Onofrio, although he's a bit too old for my late 30s private eye. Someone who's not "too handsome" and who's also maybe quirky and off-base a lot.

But it's not meant to be literal and it's just a fun game.