The 93rd Academy Awards are in the books. How did your favorite movies and actors fare? Any surprises? 

We love a great story! So, with the Oscars and the fantasy world of Hollywood in mind, and since May is Texas Writers Month, we asked four Texas authors who they would choose as their dream cast for their most recent books.

Of course, we can’t imagine what it’s like to be a filmmaker or actor right now with big-screen theaters being closed for so long. As theaters slowly begin to open back up finally, will movie-watching ever be the same? Or, will we prefer our comfy living rooms, baggy sweats (if anything) and a big bowl of microwave popcorn? 

Whichever form of movie viewing you prefer, reading a good book often feels just as compelling. However, for a movie good enough to earn its day on the red carpet, you need an equally talented cast. Lights! Camera! Read on!

Krista Nerestant – Austin, TX

Book: Indestructible: The Hidden Gifts of Trauma

Synopsis: A fascinating personal story of a traumatized overachiever bound by the cultural and societal limitations of her home country, who endures multiple traumas as a child in the Philippines and as a young immigrant in the United States. 

Dream Team: “My hope and wish is for Indestructible to become a film to help Asian representation in the entertainment industry — just like Crazy Rich Asians.  Jon Jon Briones would play my father, definitely. I would love Gemma Chan to play me as an adult and Lana Condor as my child self. I’d have Awkwafina as Toni, and I honestly don’t know for my mother and brothers.”

Melanie Gibson – Fort Worth, TX

Book: Kicking and Screaming: A Memoir of Madness and Martial Arts

Synopsis: The funny and frank story of Melanie Gibson’s life-changing journey from troubled, lost soul to confident taekwondo black belt.

Dream Team: “My book is a memoir, so casting the role of “me” would be interesting. I’ve been told I look like Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank. I think Imogen Poots has a similar nose to mine, and she did a pretty good job of beating people up in The Art of Self-Defense. That’s not a bad start. Many interesting things have happened in my life since my story “ended” in 2015, so maybe I could get a Netflix series out of it!”

Jenny Peterson – Round Rock, TX

Book: The Big Great 

Synopsis: Emmaline Presley spends her days at the Dialysis Treatment Center in Austin, Texas, just wanting to find love, while everyone around her is trying to find her a kidney. When a boy from Mississippi messages her on Twitter, things start to turn around.

Dream Team: “Through talking to my Instagram followers about casting the characters we’ve easily established that Wolfgang Novogratz would be our Andrew. After much consideration for the other roles, we decided that we want Bridget Satterlee as Emmaline, Maksymilian Barczak as Martin, Sabrina Carpenter as Maggie, and Twilight’s BooBoo Stewart as Luke.” 

ET Gunnarson – Georgetown, TX

Book: Forgive Us

Synopsis: In this post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller set nearly 100 years into the future, the earth has been decimated by pollution and civilization has fallen into ruin.

Dream Team: “Unfortunately, I don’t know a lot of actors and actresses. Oliver would have to be performed by someone who can act as if they’ve lost everything and survived everything. London would have to be a grizzled yet loving father, and Rose would be a young, curious girl. Simon would definitely be someone who is rather normal and inconspicuous.”

Keep these Texas authors and their latest books in mind as you plan your summer reading lists!

Cover photo courtesy Arlinda on Unsplash

Houstonian Emily Hord is a junior at Texas A&M studying Agricultural Communications & Journalism. In her free time she loves listening to music and creating playlists. Her favorite movies are Friends with Benefits or Pulp Fiction and favorite Texas book is Friday Night Lights.