Britt's On

I just finished the second book in 'The Carrie Diaries' series - Candace Bushnell's YA look at Carrie Bradshaw BEFORE she was Carrie Bradshaw. If you're not familiar, the first book took place in Carrie's small town, in her final year of high school. This book covered Carrie's first summer in New York, where she's a temporary resident attending a writing program, contemplating whether University is really the right place for her come fall.

For people expecting a carbon copy of the bits and bobs of origins that the TV show covered - LOOK ELSEWHERE. There are tons of anachronisms that will probably irritate or confuse most diehard Sex and the City fans...like say, how Carrie lost her virginity, or what her family life was like. As an example, apparently in this world, she had sisters!!! Carrie always screamed only child to me so this was shocking.

Regardless, I would genuinely be interested in seeing the books come to the big screen. Or even the small screen. I'm not sure how well it would go over because they're set in the 80s and you can tell Bushnell is longing to make her characters appealing to the modern reader, but thankfully she doesn't pull a Francine Pascal and time warp her characters to be modern but un-aged. I talked before about my casting choice for Carrie, but after reading this book I now have picks for the young 'un versions of the fab four.

Playing the part of Carrie Bradshaw...

Degrassi's Charlotte Arnold


Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Charlotte Arnold would be a phenom choice to play Carrie. She's got similar enough looks / voice to SJP, and she's a great, endearing actress. I don't know that she'd actually do it since she seems pretty focused on her journalism schooling, but I imagine if the opportunity came up, she'd take it.

Playing Samantha Jones:

Glee's Dianna Agron


Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones

I'm not a huge Glee fan whatsoever, but I've caught a couple of episodes, and for some reason Dianna Agron popped into my head while reading this book. She's supposed to be older, confident, street smart, and snappy in the book - but also with a tinge of vulnerability. I think Dianna would be an awesome choice to embody all of that, plus I see a bit of resemblance with her and Kim!

And now onto Miranda Hobbes...

Parenthood's Sarah Ramos


Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes

I had to think about this one a lot before landing on Sarah Ramos, who is a wonderful actor on NBC's Parenthood. Once I thought of her - it clicked! She's got the ability to have that sort of tough sneer that Miranda has, but also to be hilariously caustic. And I think based on the maturity level of the characters, Sarah has a great ability to come off as both a know-it-all and know-nothing. Again, there's enough of a resemblance between her and Cynthia Nixon that I could see it working.

Finally Charlotte York, who only has a bit part...

Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester


Kristin Davis as Charlotte York Goldenblatt

Another character I didn't give much thought to because I didn't even expect to see her in the books, but I think Leighton Meester would do a fine job with it, even if she's a touch older than the other girls. The brand of comedy typically used for Charlotte-centric scenes is very campy, and that's exactly what Leighton employs on Gossip Girl. She'd have to tone down her manipulative girl bit and go for a more airy, less self-assured gal though.

NOW. I did google ideas for casting Charlotte when I wrote this post - Leighton came from a list of the hottest stars under 25 - and was surprised to see the prequel has been green lit (not sure if it's the original C Diaries or the latest book). No official casting news has been made, but the four rumored potential starlets for consideration are...


Carrie - Elizabeth Olsen
Lizzie Olsen (yes, of the Olsen dynasty) is about to make her feature film debut, and has been making a splash on red carpet as the more sane, relatable member of the clan. In a picture like this, I can see the resemblance, however I need to see the girl act before I can gauge whether she can embody SJP's punny, brassy take on the everywoman Carrie.


Miranda - Emma Roberts
I find this a really odd choice. Nothing Emma Roberts' has done has impressed me to date, and her on-screen persona is more indie dreamgirl waif than tempestuous activist / feminist. I also don't see a huge resemblance between her and Cynthia Nixon at all.


Samantha - Blake Lively
I mean...really? I have Blake burnout at this point. And this is totally the wrong role for her. Blake's whole thing is this irresistible, indecipherable charm / coquettishness - and Samantha's whole thing is bold, upfront, I KNOW WHO I AM AND WHAT I WANT. Maybe it's from years of watching Serena on Gossip Girl waffle on just about everything, but I find this one really hard to envision from both an acting and even a physical point of view.


Charlotte - Selena Gomez
This is BY FAR the weirdest rumored choice of all. No offense to Selena, but her doll-ish ethnic-flavoured looks are not matched to Kristin Davis' WASP appearance at ALL. Granted she's barely in the film (in theory) but if they go with Gomez because of her tween popularity I'm officially calling this prequel a fail.

Seeing this potential foursome makes me think a prequel will be an epic fail. Not saying my casting is perfect - Leighton is too old I think - but it's definitely more inventive than what Hollywood can come up with. Leave it to the big wigs to pick the four prettiest starlets they can find, when part of what made the original show so appealing was that the stars really did look like your gal pals, or women on the street (albeit with crazy styling), with different body types. The actresses I picked celebrate each woman's key features without downright re-envisioning them as glam, size zero starlets. Sigh.

- Britt's On