Hi, everyone,
I'm very honored to be a new part of this group; I've learned so much already. Since so many of you have such a vast range of pertinent knowledge, I wanted to post and ask for your help re: casting ideas for the new sci fi show Stan Lee and I are developing for Showtime, and based on my novel HERO.
Many of you may not have read it, because it is marketed as a young adult novel, but I suspect there will be no dearth of opinions.
I read in another post that there were very many gay fans among this site.
Wow, I had no idea there were proportionally more gay fans on this site than on others. I wonder why. I find that very interesting.
I've already received some great ideas, but would be truly grateful for your valued opinions. Please keep in mind, despite some of the sensationalized press announcements, HERO's protagonist is not defined by his sexuality. It is a part of him, one that he wrestles with, but hardly his only defining trait or challenge. Believe me, if you read the book, you'll see just how much young Thom Creed is up against. Especially when it comes to his father, the disgraced, former hero Hal Creed. (I'm dying to hear your casting suggestions for the father in particular. He's a great character, and I based him on my own father, a Vietnam Vet, who like myself, longed to find his place in the universe.)
For those of you who haven't read HERO, I'll give you a very brief rundown of character descriptions for casting ideas. So far, you're hitting the nail on the head!
1. Thom -- the protagonist -- a young man, a high school basketball star with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He has two secrets to hide from his father: 1. he's developing superpowers, and therefore is invited to tryout for the very team (The League, that kicked his father, a formerly glorious hero, of the their ranks years ago, and 2. he's discovering his sexual feelings may be for men, and not for women.
2. Hal Creed -- Thom's father. A weathered, fallen from grace superhero, who now toils as a menial factory worker. Considered the world's greatest pariah because of an event where the collateral damage killed thousands of innocent men and women. He wants to do right by his son. Tough on the outside. There is a warmth on the inside.
Thom's Probationary Team:
Scarlett--the hottest young woman on the team...grew up on a trailer. Can control fire, but not her temper. Gained her powers from growing up next to a nuclear power plant, which is literally rotting her insides, and hides from the team that she requires chemo treatments to deal with it.
RUTH-a tough as nails old woman -- remember Ruth Gordon, or Gena Rowlands in Gloria? Can see glimpses of the future. Becomes Thom's most unlikely ally. Has the sharpest tongue of the group.
Typhoid Larry -- a real fan-favorite. Wants so much to be the bad-ass-get-the-girl-hero, but his powers --he makes anyone sick with an array of illnesses with the smallest touch -- keep people away from him.
And Golden Boy -- super-speedster sidekick to the Flash-like "Silver Bullet" on the League. Demoted to lead this bunch of neophytes and he takes it all out on Thom. Good looking, an ethnic question mark. We find out he grew up in an orphanage and no one would take him, because the blacks thought he was Puerto Rican, the Puerto Ricans thought he was Middle Eastern, and so on and so forth. Has a major chip on his shoulder, always has to be the best.
The League: Uberman--perfectly handsome heavy hitter, and the secret object of Thom's desire, Warrior Woman, and Justice, the all-knowing leader of the League, whom Thom discovers used to be Thom's father's sidekicks years ago.
C-list Villains: Transvision Vamp, Sig-Sig Sputnik, Snaggletooth (Wolverine if he weren't immune due to his popularity, and equally one-note), and the Ssnake.
Dark Hero -- a mysterious vigilante who always seems to follow Thom. At certain points throughout the novel you wonder if it's Thom's father, dressed up to check up on his son. Maybe his long lost mother, returned, to make sure her son is safe, as he gets in over his head. Or is it...
Goran -- Thom's biggest adversary on the basketball court. Someone he can't get out of his mind.
Thom's mother, Lila Creed -- we learn, not only left the Creed family years ago -- she disappeared -- she was the League's Invisible Woman.
So that about does it.
Hope you check out the book. I tried to run away from the cliche. Especially by presenting an enthralling story about a hero's coming of age story, and his being gay is just a part of it, not the whole of it, not his entire defining trait. I look at movies like Brokeback Mountain and Milk, and I don't criticize movies I had no part in making--at the same time, I wanted to do something totally innovative -- create a story about a character who happens to be gay who is not there for comic relief, who is not there to get beaten up, but who is there to be the star of his own story, and he happens to be gay, and he earns his way to becoming a HERO. Unlike the two popular gay-character movies I mentioned, HERO does not end in the death and tragedy of the main character.
Believe it or not, for now, that's an awfully subversive premise. I'd like to think Gene Rodenberry would be proud of me. Because he did something so similar so long ago. And now multicultural casts are a given to young people.
But stories that feature characters who happen to be gay whose stories don't end in abject tragedy and death -- well, that's pretty darn subversive right now. And I'm looking forward to a day when it isn't. Because the story will still stand on its own two feet as a great coming of age superhero story.
And with your help, we'll put together the best cast on TV!
Thank you for helping me! I can't think of a better group to ask! (Please let me know how to get more folks on the site in on the discussion, if possible-you all are so much better than so many other forums I've tried to join! This one is fantastic! I'm very honored to be a part of it!)
All the best,
Perry Moore,
Author of HERO
I'm very honored to be a new part of this group; I've learned so much already. Since so many of you have such a vast range of pertinent knowledge, I wanted to post and ask for your help re: casting ideas for the new sci fi show Stan Lee and I are developing for Showtime, and based on my novel HERO.
Many of you may not have read it, because it is marketed as a young adult novel, but I suspect there will be no dearth of opinions.
I read in another post that there were very many gay fans among this site.
Wow, I had no idea there were proportionally more gay fans on this site than on others. I wonder why. I find that very interesting.
I've already received some great ideas, but would be truly grateful for your valued opinions. Please keep in mind, despite some of the sensationalized press announcements, HERO's protagonist is not defined by his sexuality. It is a part of him, one that he wrestles with, but hardly his only defining trait or challenge. Believe me, if you read the book, you'll see just how much young Thom Creed is up against. Especially when it comes to his father, the disgraced, former hero Hal Creed. (I'm dying to hear your casting suggestions for the father in particular. He's a great character, and I based him on my own father, a Vietnam Vet, who like myself, longed to find his place in the universe.)
For those of you who haven't read HERO, I'll give you a very brief rundown of character descriptions for casting ideas. So far, you're hitting the nail on the head!
1. Thom -- the protagonist -- a young man, a high school basketball star with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He has two secrets to hide from his father: 1. he's developing superpowers, and therefore is invited to tryout for the very team (The League, that kicked his father, a formerly glorious hero, of the their ranks years ago, and 2. he's discovering his sexual feelings may be for men, and not for women.
2. Hal Creed -- Thom's father. A weathered, fallen from grace superhero, who now toils as a menial factory worker. Considered the world's greatest pariah because of an event where the collateral damage killed thousands of innocent men and women. He wants to do right by his son. Tough on the outside. There is a warmth on the inside.
Thom's Probationary Team:
Scarlett--the hottest young woman on the team...grew up on a trailer. Can control fire, but not her temper. Gained her powers from growing up next to a nuclear power plant, which is literally rotting her insides, and hides from the team that she requires chemo treatments to deal with it.
RUTH-a tough as nails old woman -- remember Ruth Gordon, or Gena Rowlands in Gloria? Can see glimpses of the future. Becomes Thom's most unlikely ally. Has the sharpest tongue of the group.
Typhoid Larry -- a real fan-favorite. Wants so much to be the bad-ass-get-the-girl-hero, but his powers --he makes anyone sick with an array of illnesses with the smallest touch -- keep people away from him.
And Golden Boy -- super-speedster sidekick to the Flash-like "Silver Bullet" on the League. Demoted to lead this bunch of neophytes and he takes it all out on Thom. Good looking, an ethnic question mark. We find out he grew up in an orphanage and no one would take him, because the blacks thought he was Puerto Rican, the Puerto Ricans thought he was Middle Eastern, and so on and so forth. Has a major chip on his shoulder, always has to be the best.
The League: Uberman--perfectly handsome heavy hitter, and the secret object of Thom's desire, Warrior Woman, and Justice, the all-knowing leader of the League, whom Thom discovers used to be Thom's father's sidekicks years ago.
C-list Villains: Transvision Vamp, Sig-Sig Sputnik, Snaggletooth (Wolverine if he weren't immune due to his popularity, and equally one-note), and the Ssnake.
Dark Hero -- a mysterious vigilante who always seems to follow Thom. At certain points throughout the novel you wonder if it's Thom's father, dressed up to check up on his son. Maybe his long lost mother, returned, to make sure her son is safe, as he gets in over his head. Or is it...
Goran -- Thom's biggest adversary on the basketball court. Someone he can't get out of his mind.
Thom's mother, Lila Creed -- we learn, not only left the Creed family years ago -- she disappeared -- she was the League's Invisible Woman.
So that about does it.
Hope you check out the book. I tried to run away from the cliche. Especially by presenting an enthralling story about a hero's coming of age story, and his being gay is just a part of it, not the whole of it, not his entire defining trait. I look at movies like Brokeback Mountain and Milk, and I don't criticize movies I had no part in making--at the same time, I wanted to do something totally innovative -- create a story about a character who happens to be gay who is not there for comic relief, who is not there to get beaten up, but who is there to be the star of his own story, and he happens to be gay, and he earns his way to becoming a HERO. Unlike the two popular gay-character movies I mentioned, HERO does not end in the death and tragedy of the main character.
Believe it or not, for now, that's an awfully subversive premise. I'd like to think Gene Rodenberry would be proud of me. Because he did something so similar so long ago. And now multicultural casts are a given to young people.
But stories that feature characters who happen to be gay whose stories don't end in abject tragedy and death -- well, that's pretty darn subversive right now. And I'm looking forward to a day when it isn't. Because the story will still stand on its own two feet as a great coming of age superhero story.
And with your help, we'll put together the best cast on TV!
Thank you for helping me! I can't think of a better group to ask! (Please let me know how to get more folks on the site in on the discussion, if possible-you all are so much better than so many other forums I've tried to join! This one is fantastic! I'm very honored to be a part of it!)
All the best,
Perry Moore,
Author of HERO
