As an avid book lover, I’ve spent much of my life imagining characters in books — trying to figure out who’s perfect to play these characters I fall so deeply intrigued with and want to know everything about. As I’ve gotten older, that hasn’t changed, but it’s turned into something a lot more common in today’s social media world: creating fancasts of my beloved characters.
I’ll warn you now: spoilers ahead. You can’t say I didn’t warn you, if you haven’t read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and don’t want to know the plot, skip the words, look at the names, and pictures, and go ahead and read the book with an established mental image of characters, courtesy of yours truly.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid was a late read for me in comparison to the publishing timeline. I picked it up in late 2024 as a slump book — something to get me back into reading when the task just felt impossible. As I read it, I found a sense of identity in Evelyn, not in her actions, but in her identity.
As I provide you with brief summaries of their characters and stories, here are my picks for the seven husbands and other key characters in Evelyn’s life and identity.
Danny Ramirez as Ernie Diaz
Ernie Diaz, a neighbor of Evelyn’s when she was 15, is the first of the list of her assumed lovers by Hollywood. She learned quickly that she needed to get away from her horrible father, wanted to get to Hollywood, and found out that’s exactly where her neighbor was moving.
She lied to Ernie about her age, had her father sign off on the marriage, and left for Hollywood with her new husband to become a waitress until she was discovered by an agent. Afterwards, she got a role in a movie that failed horribly.
She then got to choose a role to go out for. She picked Jo from Little Women and had to essentially get rid of all the Cuban in her. She dyed her hair blonde, cut it into a bob, lost weight, and changed her accent. She then changed her name to Evelyn Hugo and divorced the man she used to get what she needed in the Hollywood movie industry.
Who’s my perfect Ernie Diaz? We don’t get much description of the man, but we can assume from his name that he’s of Latino descent. In my mind, a man going to Hollywood in search of work needs to be attractive, and I believe that Evelyn wouldn’t choose a bad-looking husband. So, I believe a long-time struggling actor who finally got his breakout would be perfect, and I’d love to see Danny Ramirez on screen, even if it was short-lived.
Glen Powell as Don Adler
Don Adler and Evelyn met on the set of a movie they were filming together. Don was a Hollywood legacy and came from a family of great actors, feeling pressured to be perfect in every way in his acting career.
After getting married, Evelyn truly loved him, but things went south as he quickly turned into an angry and violent person. Evelyn had to find a way out, and of course, she did. As sweet as he is, Glen Powell is a perfect person for this role.
Avan Jogia as Mick Riva
Mick Riva is a very short piece of Evelyn’s story: an escape, and a quick Vegas wedding. Readers don’t know much about him other than his singing career and his dark hair and eyes being a selling point for the man’s attraction. I feel like this is a perfect role for Avan Jogia to play; characters like this are right up his alley.
Lucas Till as Rex North
This was a harder one for me to figure out. Rex North is a character just like Evelyn — he uses what he must to get what he wants. As an Icelandic actor with stunning blue eyes, blond hair, and beauty, he and Evelyn were a short-lived power couple. Lucas Till was the blond, blue-eyed beauty that I could think of being just that powerful and clever, as he’s known for his use of paper clips.
Connor Storrie as Harry Cameron
Harry is a huge part of Evelyn’s story. Readers first meet him as a producer who really discovers Evelyn and gives her a chance. So far down the road, we come to find him as her husband of 15 years, the father of her only child, and her beard.
Both Harry and Evelyn were interesting characters, but they loved each other in a way that I may never understand. They allowed each other to really be themselves, and they had a beautiful daughter together.
The first time I saw him in the media, I immediately thought that man would be the perfect Harry Cameron. Connor Storrie has already shown that he can portray a beautiful, complex relationship, and I think that this is a great role for a person like him to grow in.
Gaspard Ulliel as Max Girard
Max Girard was a French director whom Evelyn married and had a complex relationship with. They had previously worked together on a movie, and Evelyn thought that marrying him would end well… she was dearly mistaken.
She quickly realized he didn’t love her, but the idea of her. When he found letters between her and the woman she had loved for so many years, he became bitter and rude. I wanted to find someone truly French, and I think Gaspard Ulliel is a great choice for the role.
Jack Schlossberg as Jack Easton
To take a quick intermission from her husbands for the man that kept her from being outted, I felt like this is the obvious choice. Who better to play a northern congressman than a legacy Kennedy? I think Jack Schlossberg would do great in a short scene like this, and I think it would be a great reference to real-life politics.
Domhnall Gleeson as Robert Jamison
Robert was Evelyn’s final husband, and a marriage of convenience. Robert was a loving brother and a man willing to do anything for those he loved, especially his sister and Evelyn. He spent the last of his time helping take care of Evelyn’s daughter, Connor. Knowing the redhead trait runs in Celia’s family, I think that Domhnall Gleeson is a great choice for Robert.
Scarlett DeMeo as Celia St. James
The most pivotal part of Evelyn’s character and her old-money acting career is her secret wife and her long-held relationship with someone the world would’ve never seen coming. This is something that holds meaning.
Celia, in her prime, was a red-headed beauty with a young face and beautiful eyes. I think Scarlett DeMeo is just the type of woman to portray that young look that would have Hollywood going crazy. There’s so much to say about Celia’s character, and so few words that really convey her strength and cunning mind, but I think this face would pull it off.
David Corenswet as John Braverman
John, Celia’s husband and the love of Harry Cameron’s life, was described as an All-American football player, tall in stature and made of muscle. Who better to play that than Superman himself? David Corenswet looks like he walked right off a football field, and I think he could do a lovely job at portraying the struggles of a man who wants so desperately to love while also keeping his career.
Dove Cameron as Connor Cameron
Okay, I feel like this one is a little harder to sell, but Evelyn described her daughter as a blonde, blue-eyed copy of Harry, and we know she likes to get into some trouble. As a former Disney star and people’s princess turned into a dark, mysterious actress, Dove Cameron is the perfect person for grown-up Connor.
Michael B. Jordan as James Grant
I know, this man has been in everything, but I feel like we could really go somewhere with Michael B. Jordan as a black man who’s secretly gay. It’s a character he has yet to be seen portraying, and I think, despite this role being so small, it’s very important to the story. This is what truly ruins the relationship between Evelyn and her trusted reporter and is the driving force for so many decisions later in her life.
Amandla Stenberg as Monique Grant
I won’t lie, when I first read the book, I imagined Monique as a beautiful black woman with a hippie vibe for some reason. It felt like her style to me. The more I read into it, the more I learned about her character, and the anger that sat so deeply within her after everything Evelyn said.
With these in mind, I started seeing her in a different light. I saw her more with a conservative, professional style and a deep-seated anxiety for her own success. Fans of hers know Amandla Stenberg can portray anger, and as an icon of Gen Z childhood, I think it’s time to see her in such a pivotal role.
Our Evelyn Hugo(s)
Now, the moment you’ve really been waiting for.
Evelyn is introduced to readers as the young daughter of Cuban immigrants, with a horrible dad and a caring, loving mother who passed away suddenly. She’s young, but physically mature for her age, and the audience comes to learn that she isn’t only aware of her beauty but also uses it to get what she wants.
Eventually, she climbs her way to the top and becomes a Hollywood hotshot, lasting past her golden era into old age, and to the point of wondering when she would bring her life to an end. What really stuck with me is her tragic love story and the identity she felt so desperate to convey in her final days.
She’s a strong, though morally gray, bisexual woman, and her character and her story reflect that queer identities exist, they matter, and they come in all types of personalities and stories.
Young Evelyn was based heavily on her similarity to my ride or die casting for old Evelyn, and I think she’s a great fit whose range could cover from 15 to about 45 or even 50 with the right hair and makeup.
Camila Mendes is an actress with a timeless look who we know can portray a cunning woman, and I believe she has the look to hide her Hispanic heritage with the right hair and makeup, just like Evelyn did.
Now, to our true Evelyn Hugo, in her final days: my Puerto Rican queen, Rita Moreno. When I read this book, this is who I imagined. Moreno is an actress who’s done it all and paved the way for so many Latinas.
She’s a trailblazer, a vocal activist, an ally, and a real-life legend. She’s my Evelyn, and I think she would do an amazing job with her character.
I can’t wait to see what they do with the adaptation of this book in progress of production currently, and although I know my list is entirely hypothetical, I hope some of my picks end up coming to fruition.
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