Pulp Sci-Fi Casting

An interesting experiment.

For my break time reading enjoyment I decided to pick up an old favorite of mine, Robert Heinlein's Number of the Beast. It is pulpy, trashy, libertarian, and still a fun read despite the first three descriptors.

I'm trying something I have never done before with a book. Normally I visualize characters based on the descriptions in the text. I've read this one a few times. This time I decided to 'cast' the main roles with known actors.

We start with Zeb, the classic hero who is strong, agile, and very smart. Nate Fillion (Mal in the excellent albeit short-lived Firefly series) seemed a natural. He's also managing to steal the show thus far. Not an easy task considering the rest of the line-up.

His dancing partner and soon to be wife Deety is played by a twenty-something Liz Taylor. Time travel is one of the themes of the book. Since the movie is being directed and produced in my head, time travel has afforded me the perfect actress to fill the role of a wasp waisted young gal with teats that are emotional barometers. Did I mention she is also a genius and proficient in karate? My perfect Liz Taylor has picked up those qualities for the 'film'.

Deety's father, Jake, is a brilliant if not eccentric scientist who has just invented a device that allows people to travel through time and space (and multiple universes). Mid-career William Shatner is doing a fine job in this role. It is also adding a very distinct flavor to the dialog. So is Fillion, but come on, it's Shatner!

Finally we have the best friend of Jake's deceased wife, surrogate mother to Deety, university socialite, and, this is made quite explicit in the book, small breasted Hilda who marries Jake at the same time Zeb and Deety get hitched. She is smart but pretends not to be. She is tough but pretends not to be. She is rich but she pretends to be less rich than she actually is. She has made a hobby of chasing men only to fall madly in love with Jake the moment she finds out his daughter is getting married. Something like that. Madonna was suggested to me and I think she could pull it off, but I went with Susan Sarandon. Her boobs are way too big to be an accurate portrayal, but that is often how movies go. Besides, her voice is perfect!

All of the characters are athletic, tough, genius libertarians who like to spend as much time as possible naked. They are also all extremely rich independent of each other. Then they form one big happy family that is even richer. The men are virile and the women are fertile. And rich. And really, really smart. In other words the characters are pure pulp fantasy worthy of B-grade cinema, but I gave it an A-list cast.

Try reading one of your favorite books with a cast of known actors in mind. It is bringing new fun to an old stand-by.