Casting Stephanie Plum

Seeing as I got on a movie-talk roll last week… Let’s continue it, shall we?

As most Stephanie Plum (of the Janet Evanovich novels) fans have undoubtedly heard by now, Katherine Heigl (Izzy on Grey’s Anatomy) has been signed to play the much beloved Plum character in the film version of ONE FOR THE MONEY. If you do a bit of searching on the ‘Net, the choice of Heigl has created a bit of an uproar. It doesn’t much matter to me, because I haven’t kept up with the book series. I read the first book and loved it, but I didn’t discover the books until Ms. Evanovich was already on book 5 or 6 or 7 in the series, and I already knew from a discussion on a writers’ listserve that…

(In the event you don’t already know this spoiler and don’t want to know, don’t highlight the white bit below. If you do highlight it, the spoiler will appear in blue print or something. And, no, I have no idea if this works on the Facebook or Goodreads feeds for this blog).

…I already know from a discussion on a writers’ listserve that… (highlight next portion if you already know the spoiler).

The Joe Vs. Ranger issue still had not been resolved by book 5, 6, or 7, whichever was currently on shelves at the time.

So, I read book 1 (ONE FOR THE MONEY), loved it, and promptly went out and bought books 2 and 3. I can’t recall if I ever finished book 2, but I know I didn’t finish book 3. The idea of having to read all those books and still the relationship question was hanging in the air was just too daunting for me. Now, I make certain, when I hear about a great series like this, to either (a) stick my fingers in my ears and holler, Na-na-a-boo-boo! whenever people start discussing romantic plot issues or (b) start reading the series when it first appears and keep up with the books as the author puts them out.

I must admit, however, back when I read Book 1, Katherine Heigl did not jump out at me as an obvious Stephanie Plum choice. One could argue that when I read Book 1 Katherine Heigl had not yet been cast on Grey’s, in fact I had never heard of her, so how could I possibly imagine her as Stephanie?

Whatever. Who DID I imagine as Stephanie? Sandra Bullock and/or Marisa Tomei. However, I suppose both actresses are “too old” by Hollywood standards to play Stephanie now.

Whatever, Katherine has been signed.

Are you a Stephanie Plum fan? How do you feel about KH as the lead character? Will you go see the movie? Will it ruin it for you? Do you just not care?

In my understanding, Ranger and Joe Morelli have not been cast yet. At least my puny Internet search didn’t turn them up. So let’s take this one step further. Now that you know KH has been cast as Stephanie, who would you like to see playing Ranger and Joe along with her?

If you could choose an actress to play Stephanie and then choose your own Ranger and Joe, who would you choose?

I can’t remember enough about Ranger and Joe to decide. So please play the casting game for me, my lovelies. Play!