Over the years I've had more than a few people ask me if I've had any specific faces in mind for characters I've written. It isn't an uncommon thing for authors to have actors, musicians, even people they know personally in mind when creating a character with which to work. Sometimes it helps us get vocal quirks right, facial features, silly little traits we pick up on when we watch them but wouldn't necessarily think to write in on our own. Because I get asked this question often enough, I'm going to do a semi-regular series in which I answer by doing a "casting session" of major characters starting from book one and going through all the books, adding new characters as they join the series. This is meant to be interactive. I'd love to hear your thoughts on who I see as my characters and who you see when you picture them! So let's get started with the main character, Ashlynn Stuart!
I've never had a real solid face for Ashlynn until literally a few months ago. It's been ever changing since I started writing this series over ten years ago. She started out looking like Haley Westenra, then Ayla Kell, then just kept having a face that changed with every actress that even slightly resembled what I thought she could possibly look, act, or sound like in my head. Then it finally hit me when I was watching Girl Meets World one day. The girl who plays Maya, the Shawn equivalent to this next-gen show to one of my childhood favorites, Sabrina Carpenter, was pretty much exactly how I pictured a younger Ashlynn. She was a rule-breaker but she was loyal to a fault. She was also quite short but didn't let that determine how much personality she had. This was a girl who, if she wanted something accomplished or didn't understand something, went after it all on her own until whatever ends she arrived upon were met, even if they weren't always good. She was Ashlynn.
Going from there was almost easy. I'd had someone on my radar for an older Ashlynn, one for nearer to the middle-end of the series. What I really needed was a face for in between that. It was about that time that I started watching Runaways and found exactly what - or who - I was looking for in Virginia Gardner.
I know what you're thinking. She looks entirely too sweet to be Ashlynn. But remember, there are quite a few times when she's got to pull out that sweet side of her and do a little charming to get what she wants or needs done. And then there are times she gives that disarming smile before she hits with a killing blow. Older Ashlynn is walking an unsteady line between the girl who simply acts on impulse to get things done and the woman learning to be queen of an entire nation, and a person who has to stop to think before she actually does things. Besides, Virginia is really just a bridge between Sabrina and the one who has become the ultimate face of Ashlynn, Eliza Taylor.
As Clarke on The 100, Eliza is everything Ashlynn has been and everything she has begun to grow into. Now I admit that I'm only halfway through season two - I know, I am woefully behind - but many of her qualities are what I see in older Ashlynn. She still has that fierce loyalty and impulsivity that often make her reckless, but every decision she makes is based on what she thinks is best for everyone she cares about until she has to make the tough decisions that put the greater good above even the people she holds closest. She is not afraid of her leadership position, neither is she afraid of letting someone else taking charge if their ideas are better than hers. She has strong opinions and concrete convictions that are rarely shaken. When it comes to fighting, she runs into the fray instead of away from it as well. Really, could I find anyone better to represent who Ashlynn is?
Closing out all the generations I plan to show throughout the series, I feel like Diane Kruger just has a perfect older face to follow Eliza's. That's really my only reasoning. Eliza could look older than she is with the right makeup and Diane could look younger/older as well, making a seamless age transition between the two.
So what do you think of my casting? Have someone else you think would fit the role? I'd love your thoughts!