Diane Stanley's "The Chosen Prince"

tutorneale Mayıs 25, 2022

Diane Stanley is the author and illustrator of more than fifty books for children, noted especially for her series of award-winning picture book biographies. Her novels for older readers include Saving Sky, Bella at Midnight, The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine, and the Silver Bowl Trilogy, The Silver Bowl, The Cup and the Crown, and The Princess of Cortova.

Here Stanley dreamcasts an adaptation of her latest book for young readers, The Chosen Prince:

People are always suggesting new careers for me, as in, “Wow, you could be (an architect, chef, radio announcer)!” But no one has ever, ever said, “Wow, you could be a casting director!” Not only have I not kept up with the latest batch of young Hollywood stars and starlets, as in, “Is Channing Tatum a man or a woman?” Half the time I can’t even pull up the names of the old ones I know and love. But if you will allow me magical powers so I can cast actors at different moments in their lives, I will give My Book, The Movie a try:

Alexos is my main character and will have to carry the movie. He must be intense and vulnerable with a sharp intelligence and lots of charisma. The only person I can imagine who could play him to my satisfaction is a teenaged Benedict Cumberbatch (with the Sherlock hair but not the attitude).

Aria, my heroine, needs to be unforgettable (certainly Alexos can’t forget her). She should be just pretty enough, but in an unusual way. Mostly she has to be strong and independent. I think a slightly younger Jennifer Lawrence would be just right.

Pyratos, my villain, could be played admirably by Joaquin Phoenix at about twenty-five.

Suliman is a no-brainer: Omar Sharif, from around the time he made Lawrence of Arabia.

And for my dream Claudio, I would choose Derek Jacobi, aged about fifty-five (and it has nothing to do with the fact that he played Claudius).

Finally, having just seen the incredibly subtle and historically dead-on Mr. Turner, I would like my movie to be directed by Mike Leigh.