Better Choices for Stephanie and Morelli

I always envisioned Carla Gugino as Stephanie when I read the books. I know she's too old now by Hollywood standards, but she's who I see. Joe Manganiello IS Morelli. I have nothing against Jason O'Mara, but he is not Italian nor does he look like Trenton. As for Grandma Mazur, I envisioned the old lady from The Wedding Singer when I read. No idea what her name is or if she's even still alive. Also, I think Eduardo Verástegui(look him up - he's gorgeous!) would be a better choice for Ranger. Daniel Sunjata is beautiful, but Ranger is supposed to be Latino, not African-American.

Heigl was game, I'll give her that. And I understood the need to cast a "name." But her accent was unconvincing, grating and wavered throughout. My problem is that I cast the movie almost 20 years ago when I first read the book. So of course, Sandy Bullock, even around 50, makes my Stephanie short list, lol.

Along with the nostalgia casting, I would have gone Estelle Getty as Grandma Mazur, like half the Plum fan/atics out there. And Loretta Devine circa 1993 as Lula. She had the, um, voluptuous body, and a wonderfully distinctive, somewhat high-pitched voice that I immediately "heard" when I read the character. And for Vinnie, oh how I would have loved vintage Dan Hedaya (Carla's ratty husband on cheers).

Sunjata's skin tone isn't really off. Ranger has been described as mocha more than once (Sunjata's actually lighter, cafe au lait). But attractive though he is, he lacks charisma and doesn't ooze sex appeal (he's just a damn good-looking dude, which isn't the same thing). I could see Berasategui.

The most perfect contemporary casting, though, would indeed have been Manganiello as Joe. O'Hara's mighty fine to look at, too, but he's Irish through and through. And though I personally would love to stare into his pretty baby blues for decades if not all eternity, they ain't Morelli's smoldering brown eyes.

Look, casting is rarely perfect, even with makeup (often actors whose performances seemed perfect actually deviated quite a bit physically from literary descriptions of their characters). It's not so much the body as the embodiment, capturing the essence of the character. And no one really came close in OftM. Sadly, I doubt we'll see sequels, certainly not with this cast, which tanked at the box office.

I suppose JE was just happy to see something on screen after so many studio flirtations.

I thought Linda Lavin would have made a great Grandma Mazur.

Are you serious? I think both Katherine and Jason are great actors, i love that mischievous twinkle in Jason's eyes and i think he has great comedic timing. But hey each to their own:)

It was said Evanovich loved the casting. Oh, well. Heigl hasn't done anything of note since Grey's Anatomy. She certainly can't carry a picture as the lead character.

My picks:

Stephanie Plum - Lauren Stamile http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0821836/ Although she plays mostly serious roles these days, she started in sitcoms, so I believe she could handle Stephanie's kookiness.

Joe Morelli - Dylan McDermott http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001518/ He does have Italian ancestry (maternal grandfather). He's closer to how I'd picture Morelli, than Jason O'Mara was, but McDermott may be a tad too old to play Morelli.

Ranger - Rudy Reyes http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2674478/ Reyes was in the Marine First Reconnaissance Battalion (special forces) in Iraq and Afghanistan before taking up acting. He played himself in the HBO reality-based mini-series "Generation Kill". If you want a real life "Ranger", it's him. My back-up choice would be Vin Diesel simply because I can imagine him saying "Babe" to Stephanie. LOL

Grandma Mazur - Betty White http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0924508/ Perhaps not the top choice, but if anyone can pull off crazy Grandma Mazur, it's her.

Benito Ramirez - Former UFC champ, Tito Ortiz http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0651274/ He's how I pictured Benito Ramirez when reading the book.

I thought Sherri Shepard was a good choice for Lula. She embodies not only Lula's shape, but her attitude, as well. But, if I had to pick another actress for the role it would be Mo'Nique http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0594898/

The problem I have with Joe Manganiello playing "Morelli" is, at 6'5", Manganiello is way too tall to play "Morelli". He'd tower over everyone else. Find someone with his rugged good looks, at around 6-foot even, and you'd have Morelli.

I think Cloris Leachman would be perfect for Grandma Mazur. Mike Tyson as Ramirez would be great IF someone else dubbed his voice. no way would that voice work for that character.

The Maharishi says "Never drink champagne from a paper cup." - Linc Hayes 