zwolanerd

Even though we are teachers and policemen and Walmart greeters and human resource directors and parents and students and whatever else, underneath we are screenwriters. We have an idea of that movie we want to see, a “wouldn’t it be great if…” rattling around in our brains that we are sure other people would also love to watch. Some of us eventually write them, but for most of us, they stay in our heads.

So recently I’ve been going at this in reverse, thinking about who I would cast and then let the story write itself based on the characters (with maybe some help from an actual screenwriter). It’s funny, the main job of an actor is to be someone they aren’t, but most actors have a type.  Sure, there’ve been some actors who have had success in a wide range of roles, but when you see Samuel L. Jackson show up on screen, you have an expectation that he is about to do something alarmingly intense. You probably wouldn’t cast him as an elementary school teacher, unless you were trying for a Kindergarten Cop-like twist on the genre (hey, Hollywood – free idea there!).

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Steve Martin plays Winona Ryder‘s dad, and they’ve always gotten along very well. They’re moving him from California to the MidWest, so they’ve got a 3-day drive ahead of them. Along the way they meet Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a diner cook in Missouri.  They also meet Bruce Willis, a gas station attendant in Arizona, who somehow introduces them to Christopher Walken, the mayor of the small town they’re traveling through.  “Weird Al” Yankovic is the host of the music/talk Sirius channel they listen to on the drive, and they end up calling him several times along the way, and he becomes involved in their increasingly bizarre trip.

That’s what I’ve got so far, and it incorporates a few suggestions I’ve gotten from friends who know me well enough to know what I like. It kind of sounds like a Muppet movie without The Muppets, now that I think about it.  I have no problem with it turning into a Muppet movie.

Who’s in your movie?

Written by: Mark