Yen Kien
asked
Shane Kuhn:
If this book were to be made into a movie, who is the perfect candidate to play John Lago and why?
Shane Kuhn
Excellent question and I would love to hear how readers would answer it. My answer is this: when I wrote the book, I was picturing Joseph Gordon-Levitt the entire time. As you may know from the book, John has to be someone who can blend in, so I never imagined anyone too pretty. But, were talking about a movie now, so the actor can't be too bland or no one will see the movie. Levitt is a total star, with plenty of star power, but he can dial it way back and create skillfully understated characters. So, he could blend in as John Lago, but everyone digs him so he would put butts in seats. Additionally, Levitt is a great actor. Playing John will by no means be a cake walk. That character will require humor, intelligence, a lot of physicality, and occasionally some very heavy emotion. So, that's why I thought of him as the ideal John Lago. Having said that, I do not have control over the casting process and Sony has attached Dave Franco to play John. When I first heard that I was intrigued, but had never seen his work, so I was also terrified. Then I checked out some of his supporting work in movies and watched him on a few talk shows. He clearly has chops and, obviously, comes from a strong acting pedigree. The cool thing is he also has an edge. I saw him on Chelsea Lately and was really curious if he could hang with her. Not only did he hang with her, but he had great poise and a gritty sense of humor. Then I met him in person and that sealed the deal. The guy reminds me of Tom Cruise way back in the All The Right Moves and Risky Business days. He has the same star power, but more edge than Tom has. So, I'm very excited about what he is going to be able to do with John Lago and he's excited about his first starring role in an action film!
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