Command Presence

A constant theme in the fan mail I receive is that my books would make great movies. Well, I cannot but agree (I’m scarcely impartial here) but I also know that the devil is in the detail and that many a great book has been a disappointment on the screen because of a poor screenplay, lousy casting, a poor director and so on. Conversely, sometimes books which look near impossible to transfer to the screen have been turned into masterpieces. Here, War and Peace and A Bridge Too Far become particularly to mind and I’m sure there are more recent examples.

As a consequence of this interest, some years ago I discussed casting the principal characters in my books on the web. Frankly that section needs updating but I recall mentioning that George Clooney would make an excelling Fitzduane.

Recently I received an e-mail from a Special Forces veteran taking issue with my choice. Let me quote:

Hello,

I would suggest either Viggo Mortensen, Daniel Craig or Sean Bean. Being a SOG veteran, each of these three gentlemen strike me as having that command presence so palpable in Hugo. I do not get this serious 'vibe' from Mr. Clooney. He does not seem real in his roles involving warfare, violence or command. Much more of a caricature with a sneer, rather than a warrior.

I’m a great admirer of George Clooney but it did make me wonder whether Clooney is entirely happy when playing military roles.

By the way, all my books were optioned for the movies, and a screenplay was written but the producer concerned , Bill Todman, went on to make the X-Men movies.

Such is Hollywood.