Casting Call

In this Spectrums Magazine interview from last winter, I was asked "Why is it important to you that autistic actors be cast in some of the leading roles (of a possible Joel Suzuki movie adaptation)?" Part of my answer included me saying "I'd like to give people in the autism community the opportunity to show off their skills and break into an industry in which people with disabilities in general have been sorely underrepresented." I also said "It would be really cool if Dan Aykroyd and Daryl Hannah, both of whom are on the spectrum, would play roles in the film versions of my books. They're not quite the right fit for Joel and Felicity, of course, but we'd find roles for them for sure!"

So this morning, while thinking in the shower, I asked myself, "Well, what roles would those be? And who else would make a really cool addition to the cast?" Here's what I came up with.

Dan Aykroyd: Chief Raintree

Chief Raintree is the amiable leader of Spearwind village in Spectraland. He appears in all three books so far, and supports the Wavemakers during their conflict with the Silencers. He's not comic relief, but he does have a humorous nature that I think Mr. Aykroyd would be able to portray quite nicely.

Daryl Hannah: Guider of the Worthy

Guider of the Worthy (or just "Guider") is the leader of the Redivision movement in Volume Three. She's strong, fair, and authoritative - qualities that I think Ms. Hannah would have no problem bringing to the role.

Jonathan Cormur: Whitenose

Formerly known as Jonathan Murphy, this is the brilliant young man who narrated the audiobook version of Volume One. Check out his website here. I'm sure he would have no trouble playing a number of different characters from the Joel Suzuki series, but the one that I picture him as most for some reason is Whitenose, the Silencer guard who has a pretty major role in Volume Two and also makes a cameo appearance in Volume Three.

Mickey Rowe: Windblade

The first actor on the spectrum to be cast as Christopher in the stage adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mickey Rowe seems like he would be a good fit for Windblade, one of the members of the Wavemaker Order. As a bonus, he's from Seattle, which is where Joel Suzuki and his family currently reside.

Paddy Considine: Thinker of Deep Thoughts

An English actor - and a musician - who was diagnosed as being on the spectrum at age 36, he has a long list of credits that includes The Bourne Ultimatum and Hot Fuzz. His Wikipedia entry says that "he has played a number of dark, troubled, and morally or mentally ambiguous characters." So let's turn that around and cast him as Thinker of Deep Thoughts from Volume Three!

That's what I have so far. If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments or email me at joelsuzukiseries@gmail.com!

Joel Suzuki, Volume One: Secret of the Songshell
Joel Suzuki, Volume Two: Mystery of the Moonfire
Joel Suzuki, Volume Three: Legend of the Loudstone