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This is Paulita Kincer's third book set in France. I first asked Paulita to share her cast wish list for The Summer of France in 2012, and in 2014 I posted my take on I See London, I See France as well as Paulita's dream cast in My Book the Movie . She is also the author of Trail Mix, all of which are available online at Amazon & Barnes and Noble.Paris Runaway: The Movie
Since Sim dreams of books that are made into movies, she’s allowing me to choose my dream cast for Paris Runaway.
I don’t have much experience with moviemaking, so when I picture a movie being made of my novel Paris Runaway, I imagine film sets teaming with crew members and crowding the cobblestone streets of Paris or spreading out along the Vieux Port of Marseille as I watch my characters come to life.
The book focuses on Sadie, a single mother raising her two daughters without much help from her ex-husband Drake. Since her divorce, Sadie has put her life on hold, devoting herself to Scarlett, 17, who will be a senior in high school, and Evangeline, 19, who is spending her summer taking courses at Tulane. When Scarlett leaves to stay with her father, Sadie believes she has two weeks of free-time, but then she learns Scarlett never went to her father’s house. Instead, she took a flight across the ocean in pursuit of the French exchange student, Luc.
Fearing terrorist bombings and sex-slave traders, Sadie chases after Scarlett. In Paris, she teams up with Auguste, Luc’s father. The two clash at first, blaming each other for the teens’ escapades, but slowly, through acts of kindness, Auguste wins Sadie over. The walls she built around herself begin to crumble, as she and Auguste try to track down their children.
One of the main physical characteristics about Sadie is her red hair, so the choice of Julianne Moore seemed obvious, with her ability to play beautiful but real women. My favorite movie by Julianne Moore is Far From Heaven, but movies like The Kids Are All Right show she can take on the mom role with grace and grit.
Sadie’s daughter Scarlett is a typical teen who believes she knows much more about life than her mother. She has golden red hair and won’t forgive her parents for naming her Scarlett. Willow Shields, the real-life daughter of Brooke Shields, has already proven her acting ability in movies like The Hunger Games. And she has just enough impudence to roll her eyes with abandon.
Auguste is Luc’s father and Sadie’s love interest. He’s a middle-aged, suave Frenchman, and the actor Jean Dujardin starts my motor revving, so hopefully, everyone else will see the appeal too. He won the best actor Oscar for The Artist in 2012, and more recently had roles in The Wolf of Wall Street and The Monuments Men.
As Luc, the erstwhile French exchange student and son of Auguste, Ansel Elgort from The Fault in Our Stars can probably pull off an insouciant French teenager who bumbles his way into trouble.
Playing Sadie’s ex-husband, Drake, would be Bill Pullman, who usually plays a nice guy, but imagine how he might revel playing a real jerk.
Sadie’s older daughter Evangeline is in the U.S., attending college at Tulane in New Orleans. When Sadie crosses the ocean to pursue Scarlett, she is interrupted by calls from Evangeline who is having panic attacks. Madison Davenport looks like a loveable, sweet girl trying to become independent but still needing her mom. She has been in the television shows Criminal Minds and From Dusk Till Dawn.
A production of Paris Runaway – parents and teenagers rushing through Paris in car chases, hopping aboard trains headed south to the port of Marseille, running from Parisian hoodlums – could culminate in a beautiful star-packed movie. I’d love to see it, and I promise if it happens then I’ll take everyone along – at least on social media.
We'd love to see it too, Paulita! Let us know when Hollywood calls.
Sharing Paulita's Dream Cast over at the weekly
Dreaming of France meme.