In the past few months, we’ve seen many book-to-movie adaptations start to go into production, announcing casting as they get closer and closer to bringing these novels to life on screen.
While some casting directors have done incredible jobs at bringing their book characters to life, others have completely missed the mark, causing people to wonder if they even read the same story as the rest of us.
With large franchises like The Hunger Games finding ways to successfully cast the same character at different periods of their lives, keeping fans feeling incredibly satisfied, people are left to wonder why other adaptations of books like Emily Henry’s Beach Read have cast actors that fans find are lightyears away from how they imagined the characters.
Sunrise on the Reaping ’s Masterful casting
The Hunger Games franchise has managed to consistently create movies that stay true to the original book series and leave fans very happy with how the story is handled on screen, a feat that not many adaptations have been able to achieve.
With the most recent addition to The Hunger Games series, author Suzanne Collins wrote a prequel that dives into the story of Haymitch’s games, following Katniss’ mentor through his teen years as he navigates the propaganda and lies surrounding the 50th Hunger Games.
When casting announcements were released for the upcoming movie adaptation, readers were blown away by how well the casting directors were able to cast characters that we’ve seen in other movies at different ages.
Casting Joseph Zada as a younger version of Woody Harrelson’s Haymitch, Elle Fanning as a younger version of Elizabeth Banks’ Effie Trinket, Kieran Culkin as a younger version of Stanley Tucci’s Ceasar Flickerman, and Jesse Plemons as a younger version of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Plutarch Heavensbee all proved to be incredible choices based on fan reactions.
The casting directors were also able to successfully cast President Snow at three separate ages throughout the franchise, with Tom Blyth portraying him in his younger years, Ralph Fiennes carrying on the character in Sunrise on the Reaping, and Donald Sutherland portraying the character in the original trilogy.
Even with characters that were new to this storyline, the casting directors made choices that the fans loved, bringing in Whitney Peak to play Lenore Dove and Mckenna Grace to play Maysilee Donner.
Many of the casting choices reflected fans’ casting predictions that circulated on social media in the months following the book’s release, showing that, while every decision certainly can’t and shouldn’t be made based on fan sentiment, there’s something to be said for listening to your audience.
The choices seem to have paid off, considering the movie’s recent trailer release has increased excitement among fans who’ve gotten their first glimpses at these actors in their roles as the beloved characters.
Beach Read has Lost the Plot
Fans of Henry’s best-selling novel, Beach Read, were initially incredibly excited when it was announced that Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor would be taking on the role of January Andrews in the upcoming adaptation.
For many, Dynevor felt like the perfect fit as the story’s main character, an author who’s struggling to write following the death of her father, a man she discovered kept many secrets throughout his life.
Fans were very excited for the casting announcement of January’s love interest, Augustus “Gus” Everett, a fellow author who had been her rival throughout college, as he wrote deep, darker stories to rival her uplifting love stories.
The novel picks up with January moving into the house right next to his, causing the two to reconnect and enter a competition in which they both try to write in the other’s genre to help break out of their writing slumps.
Recently, it was announced that Patrick Schwarzenegger would be taking on the role, a decision that confused many, considering the actor doesn’t meet the book’s description of Gus as having dark hair and olive skin.
Many have also said that he feels like an odd choice for a character with a deeply troubled past and a rougher façade, as he has never really been seen in a similar role. Ultimately, it’s just really difficult for people to picture clean-cut Schwarzenegger as a character who dropped out of high school and worked as a gravedigger before going to college.
The reactions of fans online have been geared mostly in one direction: disappointment. It’s very rare to come across someone who doesn’t have at least some critique for this casting choice, even if there are still a good number of fans who are cautiously optimistic that Schwarzenegger will surprise audiences with his ability to portray Gus.
Still, many fans seem to feel that a story with such a large fan base that has been creating their own fan casts for years should have received more time, care, and consideration when going through the casting process, at least finding someone who fits the physical character description or has more experience in similar roles.
Why Such a Big Difference?
If I had to guess why one film franchise was able to cast their adaptation so well while the other seems to have fallen ridiculously short, I would point to differences in budget and notoriety. The Emily Henry universe is only just starting to hit screens, with the only other book-to-movie adaptation attached to the author being the recent release of People We Meet on Vacation.
While Henry’s books are incredibly well-known, The Hunger Games has been around for a lot longer and has a massive fanbase with an incredibly large budget of over $150 million for the upcoming film, meaning actors may be more inclined to join a series of movies they already know will be successful and have significant financial backing.
While Beach Read seems to have a lot of support, it’s hard for me to imagine it receiving the same backing as Sunrise on the Reaping, which may have made it a little more difficult for casting directors to pick any actor they wanted for the role.
Yulin Kuang, Beach Read’s script writer and director, also stated in an Instagram post that she cast Dynevor first and became focused on casting someone with whom the actress had good chemistry to play Gus, causing her to land on Schwarzenegger, even though he didn’t seem like the obvious choice.
That being said, Sunrise on the Reaping had the harder job of casting characters that audiences had already seen on screen at different ages.
This makes it a bit more disappointing that Beach Read wasn’t able to get someone who fits the general description of Gus Everett a little better and has great chemistry with the lead actress, especially when we’ve seen actors perfectly cast to match the character descriptions and accurately portray their characters’ personalities in The Hunger Games series.
All in all, I think it’s safe to say that good things happen when casting directors know their audience. While I try to be open-minded about adaptations, I think one of these films will do a much better job of satisfying readers than the other.
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