Casting the Strangers in Paradise Movie
Yesterday, news broke that Terry Moore's award-winning indie comics series Strangers in Paradise [...]
Yesterday, news broke that Terry Moore's award-winning indie comics series Strangers in Paradise is set to become a feature film from director Angela Robinson, director of Professor Marston and the Wonder Women.
Since it's a comic book movie, you know what happens next: we have to speculate about who might be a good fit to cast the main characters (and a few select supporting cast members).
The long-running comic, which will return for a short engagement in 2018 to celebrate its 25th anniversary, centers on three characters: Katchoo, Francine, and David.
The three are living a quiet life in Texas when dark forces from Katchoo's past track her down, hoping to take everything from her, including Francine and David.
"I've been wanting to adapt Strangers In Paradise for over a decade, since the first time I read it and couldn't put it down. Terry Moore writes real female characters with such breathtaking sensitivity," Robinson said. "With Strangers In Paradise he pulls off the nearly impossible — a sexy, stylish crime story with tons of heart. I look forward to our collaboration."
So, let's take a look...!
Katchoo
Katchoo is an interesting character to cast, because there are so many actresses that look the part, and a great deal of whom could carry the role -- thinking about somebody who has the capacity to do the lost, angry thing that Katchoo does, and who can do all of that while still believably looking like someone that can be consistently underestimated...well, that's a slightly taller order.
Lost alum Emilie de Ravin might be a good candidate. She is a compelling actor who would turn heads the way Katchoo does, but who is very good at playing quiet and stoic when necessary.
We also know that, for the physical stuff that is inherent to some of Katchoo's stories, de Ravin has a history in horror and genre material that means she has learned how to convincingly put a little bit of violence on screen.
David
David Qin is a Japanese man with a Korean last name, who came by it because during his time in organized crime, he was responsible for a young man's death and ultimately abandoned his own name and took that of the victim. Obviously because this backstory is not a huge part of the character's present-day struggles, it would be easy to omit -- but what it all means is that for David, you want an Asian-American actor who can do everything from stage fighting to quiet, heartfelt stuff.
By the time we meet him in Strangers in Paradise, David is a changed man, one of the gentlest characters in the series and genuinely decent and moral.
A great choice to play David -- someone who is both handsome and with a boy-next-door look, and who has a broad range as a performer, would be Vince Rodriguez III. Best known for his role on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (yes, them again. It's a good show, alright?), Rodriguez has the ability to play funny, to get serious, and you could easily see him as a serious leading man.
Another actor who could kill the part, but might not have exactly the look for it, is Masi Oka.
The Japanese-American actor best known for his role on Heroes has the right mix of dramatic chops and the ability to play the downy innocent to carry off David, a complex character with a dark backstory who has found Jesus and become a quiet, lovable and deeply ethical man.
Oka is a few years older than we would imagine David to be as the story unfolds, but his age can be a bit flexible since he did not go to high school with Francine and Katchoo.
Thanks to stage actor and puppeteer Jon Hoche for his suggestion of Rodriguez.
The Supporting Cast
Freddy - Freddy Femur is the kind of guy you love to hate, but he can't be entirely without charm or appeal, or his relationship with Fancine at the beginning doesn't make any sense. We'd put Mark Feuerstein from Royal Pains in the part.
Casey - Freddy's wife is brought in as an airheaded blonde but quickly becomes steely, clever, and funny. She's also got to be a few years younger than the rest of the cast. We could see Lili Reinhart from Riverdale kicking ass in this role.
Tambi - We aren't sure there are that many blonde giantesses in Hollywood, so the best bet might be to get somebody who is intimidating rather than trying to match the actual look verbatim. Gina Carano was pretty solid in Haywire, so she might be a good bet -- especially after the way we saw her manhandling Colossus and Deadpool.
Darcy - Darcy Parker has to be believably vicious and intimidating, with a physical presence that is essentially that of a white collar criminal who is still not averse to smacking someone around from time to time. Julia Ling could be perfect in the role; she was fun and sexy on Chuck, but always managed to menace the guys who had a crush on her. In the meantime, she has been Tactical Girl, an action-comedy webseries that kind of defies description. While her focus has been on comedy over the years, we think she has proven that scaring the crap out of people is not out of her wheelhouse.
Marie Peters - Francine's mom? Well, let's go with Nia Vardalos. The My Big Fat Green Wedding star has undenidable charm, proved on Cougar Town that she can be manipulative and slyly cruel when need be, and would have been our choice for Francine if we were casting this 15 years ago.