Saturday, June 18, 2011

Casting Call: Rock Bottom

The hero and heroine of Rock Bottom are both flawed characters, my favorite kind. I love creating such characters. Their flaws provide a realistic touch, and make them more complex. 

Billie Prescott's real first name is Willamina. She hates it! Writing as a rock journalist, her byline appears more professional skewed toward male, so she goes by Billie. Writing for a rock magazine in Philadelphia gives her the perfect opportunity to combine her love of music with her career. She's savvy, snarky, and just a tad snobbish about what she considers great music. In her teens, she idolized Jet Trently, whose love ballads made her heart pound faster, and whose rock anthems made her feet pound on the dance floor. A seasoned reporter, she's been around enough rock stars to have built up an immunity. So she thinks!
Rachel Weisz has all of Billie's qualities - from sweet to snarky, savvy to soft when the circumstances warrant. Plus she's gorgeous! But not in a way that suggests she spent all day in front of the mirror.

Jet Trently's a true rock star who can go from raunchy to sweet in a chord change. He's had a rough road and sometimes it shows, either in his bittersweet songs or in his reluctance to trust. Being the star of his own reality dating show, Rock Bottom, it's difficult for Jet to know where to draw the line. He trusts Stu, his manager, too often. But does Stu have Jet's best interests at heart? Hmm...

This old pic of Brad Pitt fit the image of Jet in my head pretty well. The model on the book cover's a close match too. 


When Billie first leaves Philly for Malibu, she's distraught that she has to leave Everett behind. She's been after her editor for nearly two years, and has just spent a great weekend with him. In her heart of hearts, Billie can't quite see them as a longterm couple, and her hopes dwindle when he assigns her this story, forcing her to leave.
Everett's another flawed character. He doesn't know what he wants, so he doesn't rule anything - or anyone - out. Distance from Billie, he thinks, will help provide perspective, and yes, freedom.
Billie thinks Everett looks like Chris Cornell. I think he looks like Dermot Mulroney! lol


Zinta is Billie's best friend and lifeline to sanity. She's gorgeous and witty, caring and wise. 
Elisha Cuthbert fits the role as perfectly as she fits that red dress. :)

Justin's tall and lanky, a bit of a nerd when it comes to his work as cameraman for the Rock Bottom show. He takes his work seriously but likes the perks it brings - mostly that he gets to film beautiful girls all day. 
Joel David Moore was always Justin, in my head, right down to his somewhat whiny voice.

Cindy, the assistant on the Rock Bottom set, has to keep the peace plus keep things running smoothly, both on and off the set. She's a workaholic who doesn't have time for friendship, but she's friendly enough to all. Except when things get a little rough. As gatekeeper, Cindy can either be Billie's worst obstacle to Jet, or a fount of information. 
Melissa McCarthy would be great as Cindy.

Thanks for checking out this Casting Call! As always, it's been fun to show you who played these roles in my head as I wrote the story.

You can find other Casting Calls either through the Blog Series tab above, or through the books themselves.