Episode 339 || Casting Call, Vol. 5

Annie is joined by her friends and casting experts, Courtney Kinsey and Julie Anna Helms. Every few months, Julie Anna, Courtney, and Annie brainstorm their dream cast for a recent book they loved. Julie Anna then allows readers to vote for their favorites on her Instagram @julieannareads. This week, they’re casting Finlay Donovan Is Killing It.

Finlay Donovan is Killing It is available for purchase at The Bookshelf. To purchase the books mentioned in this episode, visit our new website.

You can cast your votes on our castings on Julie Anna’s Instagram stories on Sunday.

From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com. 

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found below.

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. 

This week, Annie is reading Smile by Sarah Ruhl. Julie Anna is reading Rabbits by Terry Miles, and Courtney is reading The Dating Plan by Sara Desai.

If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff’s weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter, follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic, and receive free media mail shipping on all your online book orders. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch.

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week.

Episode Transcript:

[00:00:00] Annie Jones: Welcome to From the Front Porch, a conversational podcast about books, small business, and life in the south.

“It’s a widely known fact that most moms are ready to kill someone by eight thirty A.M. on any given morning. On the particular morning of Tuesday, October eighth, I was ready by seven forty-five. If you’ve never had to wrestle a two-year-old slathered in maple syrup into a diaper while your four-year-old decides to give herself a haircut in time for preschool, all while trying to track down the whereabouts of your missing nanny as you sop up coffee grounds from an overflowing pot because in your sleep-deprived fog you forgot to put in the filter, let me spell it out for you. I was ready to kill someone. I didn’t really care who.” 

― Elle Cosimano,

I’m Annie Jones, owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful downtown Thomasville, Georgia, and today, I’m joined by my frequent cohosts and friends Julie Anna Helms and Courtney Kinsey for an episode of Casting Call. Every few months, Julie Anna, Courtney, and I brainstorm our dream cast for a recent book we loved, and Julie Anna then allows readers to vote for their favorites on her Instagram @julieannareads. This week, we’re casting Finlay Donovan Is Killing It. Hi, Julie Anna! Hi, Courtney! This week we're casting Finlay. Donovan is killing it. Hi Julie Anna. 

[00:01:31] Julie Anna Helms: Hi!

[00:01:33] Annie Jones: And hi Courtney. 

[00:01:34] Courtney Kinsey: Hello.

[00:01:36] Annie Jones: Oh, I'm so excited to talk about this one. We I think Courtney and I read it a while ago. Julie Anna, you finished it in time for our episode. Can you give us an overview of the synopsis of Finlay Donovan? 

[00:01:47] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah, absolutely. When stressed out single mom of two and struggling novelist Finlay Donovan is overheard recounting the plot of her latest suspense novel to her literary agent. She is mistaken for a contract killer and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband. 

The only problem is Finlay is very much not a trained killer, but she very much needs the money and soon finds herself in a deep hole of murder investigations, mafias, and deception. 

[00:02:14] Annie Jones: Oh, so fun. Okay. So. But this is our first time to do this in a while, but Julie Anna, why don't you remind everybody kind of how we do this? Because I never remember how a snake draft goes and I just do what you guys tell me to do. 

[00:02:29] Julie Anna Helms: Absolutely. So we go into this blind, meaning that we don't know each other's picks ahead of time to try to get kind of a natural reaction from each other.

And we each have separate Google Docs. But we have photos in case we're not really sure who each other are talking about, so we can reference that, but we do it snake draft style, which is, I will go first, Annie, you're going to get stuck in the middle and then Courtney will go. And then the next round, Courtney starts us off and he's in the middle and then I'll be at the end.

So I can start us off by describing our first character. So our first character is Finlay Donovan. She is a 31 year old suspense novelist, and mother of two. She is plucky and resilient, but has some faulty intuition. And so I will go with my first choice. I'm, I'm struggling with this one a little bit and y'all will know why when I reveal this, because I'm not really proud of myself on this one, but it feels perfect. So my pick is Anna Kendrick. 

[00:03:30] Annie Jones: Ah, yeah. 

[00:03:33] Courtney Kinsey: Wow. You went there. 

I'm on the record. 

[00:03:36] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah, I'm on the record. I think even as recent as the last episode of waxing poetic about why I don't really like Anna Kendrick. I feel like she kind of plays the same character. I don't feel like she picks the best movies to do, but that feels perfect because I feel like Finlay Donovan in this book has some really questionable choices that she makes.

And I could actually, I can see Anna Kendrick being her in real life. So I'm just thinking about some of the scenes throughout the book and some of the scenarios that, that character finds herself in Anna Kendrick immediately came to mind. So yeah, that was my pick, Annie, who is your pick. 

[00:04:18] Annie Jones: Okay. So I appreciate the Anna Kendrick move. I'm with you, I find her give or take, but I do see where you're coming from in terms of like likability and decision-making because Finlay Donovan really does make some questionable decisions. I went a different direction. I went with Elizabeth Olsen. I really am rooting for her. I actually loved her first in liberal arts, which is a movie she did many years ago.

It feels like now. And I just, and I'm going to say this with a couple of my casting selections, not to give spoilers, but I just don't want people stuck in the Marvel universe. Like I just don't want these good actors and actresses stuck in the Marvel world. I also think Elizabeth Olson has proven that she could handle a sitcom or TV show, which I think Finlay Donovan, because it's going to be a series, could be.

Or an episodic series of television rather than a movie. And so I think I would appreciate seeing Elizabeth Olsen in that role. I also picked her Finlay Donovan at the beginning of this book, just as like this harried mom. And I know Elizabeth Olsen is pretty, but there are times when she's really kind of unique looking and I think she could pull.

Fairly disheveled. She recently died for hair brunette, and I just feel like I did a lot of Googling. I had a lot of other options here, but I think I, after much research and evaluation, I'm going with Elizabeth Olsen. 

[00:05:41] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah. I love it. I, so one of my favorite scenes is at the very beginning of the book and that quote that you mentioned kind of alludes to it, but her daughter has chopped off her hair right before school. And so she grabs his duct tape that Elizabeth Olson doing that I could like that that's kind of the metric that I am measuring all these buyers. Can they wield some duct tape and a lot of different scenarios. 

[00:06:06] Annie Jones: And multiple scenarios and she's done one division thing. Right. So she kind of, we've seen her as a grieving woman. Like, I don't know. I feel like she can do a lot of things, but I'd also like to see her in kind of a comedic. 

[00:06:16] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah. Yup. Yup. All right, courtney, who is your pick? 

[00:06:20] Courtney Kinsey: Okay. My pick is Rachel Brosnahan from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I love her and I love Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but I want to see her in maybe something. Would you call it historical Marvelous Mrs. Maisel? Like very retro, like very specific. I want to see her in something a little more up to date. I think she can definitely pull off the motherly role because in that show she has kids, although it's almost comical how sort of detached she is from the kids.

But if anything in that show, I feel like that. Her angle as a character is she's looked so put together in her life, but then she still has kids that are crazy and don't behave. So that kind of fits into this Finlay role. She's a really fast talker. I think she has shown a good range of emotions. She was also in the movie of your woman, which was a lot more serious.

And kind of fits that whole crime, like having to do things that are a little bit questionable, like we said, so I thought she would be a really kind of unique actress for this role. And I would definitely pay to see Rachel Brosnahan in anything. So yeah. 

[00:07:29] Julie Anna Helms: I like that. Yeah. Well, and even in house of cards, To me, one of her first kind of breakout roles, she plays a really gritty character and really gets her hands dirty throughout the first few seasons of that show.

So yeah, I could, I could definitely see her pulling that off. All right. We're off to a good start. 

[00:07:48] Annie Jones: I have a question. Do you think in a previous timeline Laura Gilmore/Lauren Graham could have been Finlay Donovan. I've been picking and choosing some Gilmore girls episodes to rewatch this season. And she's got that fast talker because Donovan just, it feels like she just making stuff up, but she goes, which definitely feels more like, you know, more vibe, which is why the Rachel Brosnahan. I feel like Amy Sherman Palladino could write and direct Finlay Donovan.

[00:08:15] Courtney Kinsey: I think so too. I think that would be a great match. 

[00:08:18] Julie Anna Helms: Oh, yeah. I think it's just quirky enough in how it's written. That, that, that could, yeah, that could be a good mix there. Yeah. Good idea. I have several, and I think I say this every time, anytime I'm trying to cast people in their thirties.

And this happens too, when people send in suggestions for books that we're casting on my Instagram page, but I'm thinking people are in their thirties who are now like in their fifties. 

[00:08:42] Courtney Kinsey: I do the same thing. 

[00:08:46] Julie Anna Helms: So I ha... I have several people in mind that like I went and Googled it and there were like 57.

Yeah, that wouldn't work. So maybe we'll do like a throwback throwback episode. I'll mention who that was like, 

[00:08:59] Annie Jones: I'm telling you when, when you Google and Chris Evans is 40, you're like, oh, he's aging out aging out of these young 37. 

[00:09:10] Julie Anna Helms: Yep. Yep. I'll look that good at 40 though. Yeah. All right. Speaking of younguns we have next up is Vero. She is a 20 year old accounting college student and nanny for Finlay. She is an unwitting accomplice by the end, the end. She is bold and calculated. So Courtney, you were up again. 

[00:09:32] Courtney Kinsey: Okay. I picked and I am going to mess up the same. So I apologize to her in advance for when she listens to this. I'm going to pick Ariela Barer from The Runaways.

[00:09:47] Annie Jones: It's so good. It's perfect.

[00:09:49] Courtney Kinsey: It never fails. So we have at least one overlap. Yeah. I loved the show Runaways. I remember being super surprised by how much I liked it. And I really enjoyed her character in particular because she does play this very rough around the edges kind of goth girl, but she really cares about her sister.

She cares about her family. And so I think that kind of plays into. Role of being like a cool babysitter. Like she's cursing, she's hanging out with this woman doing crimes, whatever. But she still cares about his kids and you know, at the heart of her character, she is like a caretaker. So I thought that would fit really well with Ariella, Ariella, sorry.

But, and I want to see her in more things too. Cause I think she is really talented actress, but she hasn't been in a ton of things that I'm aware of. 

[00:10:38] Annie Jones: Yeah. Yeah, I think that's great. 

[00:10:40] Julie Anna Helms: So, Annie, that was your pick too?

[00:10:41] Annie Jones: Yeah, I do have an alternate. If you want. She is because I thought she was too old and I do think she is aging out.

Cause one of the things I've actually found Vero to be one of my favorite characters in the book. And I liked how young, but put together she was and it contrast it so well with, with Finlay being older, but not having her stuff together. So. Actress might be a little too old, but she was the other person who came to mind when I was researching.

And that is Melissa Berrera from In The Heights. Oh yeah. So she, and she almost looks like areola to me and both of them, I feel like I wanted Vero to be this person who sometimes could look put together and like an accountant and sometimes could look like, you know, I help a hit woman in my spare time.

And so I think, and I really liked Melissa Berrera in, In The Heights and I want to see her in other things. So she was my alternate. So we'll go with that. 

[00:11:34] Courtney Kinsey: I like that. 

[00:11:36] Julie Anna Helms: All right. So my pick for Vero was Cierra Ramirez from The Fosters. She's also in Good Trouble. She, she just looks really young to me and, and I feel. Going to be like Selena Gomez, who I feel like is going to look young for potentially forever. She kind of also has that, that baby face look to her, but she's already played some, some pretty intense roles. So I think that she could pull it off. 

She also looks like someone that would absolutely be a good babysitter for kids. Like she just, I dunno, it looks fun. And and it looks like she'd have a good time. So that was my pick for, for Vero. But I agree she was one of my favorite characters. 

[00:12:13] Annie Jones: I love that you put that has to be good with kids, but we'll also help you shove a body in your trunk.

[00:12:28] Julie Anna Helms: These Google docs contain treasures. They'll tell you that. All right. So up next is Steven. Steven is a 34 year old sod. Like grass sod. He is the ex I don't think I've ever called someone a sod farmer in my life. So I feel like I need to clarify what I was saying. He is the ex-husband of Finlay.

He is selfish and condescending, so I'm up next on my pick on this. And this is one that I, that I felt like I had the perfect casting. And then I realized that he was in his late fifties. Is Billy. From the morning show, almost faith. I just felt like he has that perfect, like smarmy. Ex-husband trying to buy the kids affection person.

Anyways. I obviously couldn't go with him cause that's a little too old. So instead I chose Josh Bowman from Revenge. Yeah. So he played Daniel Grayson in Revenge, which I feel like is kind of a similar character in this and that you don't quite trust him and, you know, You know, he's got an alternate motives for everything that he does.

He's not been in a whole lot of stuff. That's been big recently. So I kind of want to resurrect him. Did you realize that he married his, his co-star from, from Revenge? Him and Emily VanCamp are married. 

[00:13:45] Annie Jones: I didn't know that. I didn't realize that until I started looking at pictures of him, but yeah, they're, they're married and have been for awhile, so I had no idea.

[00:13:54] Julie Anna Helms: Yep. All right, annie, who is yours?

[00:13:57] Annie Jones: Okay. Mine is a little bit of a throwback as well. Mine is Chord Overstreet from Glee Fame. 

[00:14:05] Courtney Kinsey: Wow. That's good. 

[00:14:08] Annie Jones: Okay. I immediately pictured somebody who would be in the bachelor franchise based on looks alone. Chord Overstreet has a very punchable face. I think he could look with like some Scruff and some hair.

He could look like. I have not seen him really in anything since Glee, but once I figured this casting out, I could not let it go. I just felt like he just looks like he is a bachelor reject. No offense to Chord Overstreet. I'm sure he's a great guy. I'm sure he's nice. But yeah, he looks like a sod farmer.

[00:14:44] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah. In the photo you have, which I'll use on the casting polls, but he's got on this Jean jacket and the facial hair. So he doesn't look quite as young as I picked your hand in my mind, which again, we haven't seen him since Glee. I feel like so, yeah. Oh, I can totally see it. 

[00:14:59] Annie Jones: Yeah. 

[00:15:01] Courtney Kinsey: I think he looks like a sod farmer is our pull quote. That's...

[00:15:06] Annie Jones: Put that in the Instagram feed of The Bookshelf. 

[00:15:12] Julie Anna Helms: Exactly. But then I feel like people are going to try to figure out if that's an initialism for something. On that note Courtney, who was your choice? 

[00:15:26] Courtney Kinsey: Okay. Mine's also a little bit of a throwback similar era. I picked Jake McDorman from the show Greek. Did you guys ever watch Greek? 

[00:15:36] Annie Jones: I've watched a few episodes. Yes. 

[00:15:38] Courtney Kinsey: Okay. So he played Evan, the rich fraternity president who dated. The main character, Kelsey grandma's Sater he, I picked him because I don't know why this came to mind.

It was so random, but I guess I was thinking about with someone being in their thirties, I was thinking, okay, so who would have been on a teen show when we were college age and therefore now is more age appropriate for an adult type role. And I just remember he played that whole. Kind of like annoying ex boyfriend on that show, but husband in this scenario. Very, All-American look like he could be a farmer, but he plays condescending and you know moving on to bigger and better things very well. And so I thought that'd be perfect for this ex-husband character who has now married, like little miss. Perfect. And kind of seems to have his act together or wants people to think he has his act together.

[00:16:39] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah. 

[00:16:39] Annie Jones: Yeah. I think the vibe of this character is very much. Somebody who can play an Ex, not a husband. And he, to me gives off you wouldn't want to marry that guy. You'd want to be divorced from that guy. 

[00:16:54] Julie Anna Helms: The one that got away

[00:16:59] Courtney Kinsey: Exactly. 

[00:17:02] Julie Anna Helms: Well, speaking of little, miss perfect. Up next, we are casting Teresa, who is a mid thirties real estate agent. She is the mistress slash new fiance as Steven and she is a bit snotty. So Courtney, you're up again.

[00:17:17] Courtney Kinsey: Okay. We're going to have a little Glee reunion up in here, because I picked Dianna Agron. She played Quinn, the cheerleader who then gets pregnant, but on Glee, she's one of the super snotty characters. Very protective of her image, popular cheerleader, captain, all of that. And so I could definitely see her being somewhat, even this to me is like Quinn up. Like she grew up to be a real estate mogul and like she's, somebody's second wife. And like, you know, even for a young person in her mid thirties, like definitely has a certain image and.

A little bit cold and kind of manipulative someone that would be a good foil to Finlay's kind of scatterbrained personality type. And so I thought she would play that character really well. Cause she kind of already has. Yeah. 

[00:18:17] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah, I agree. I kind of wish we had had more interactions between Theresa and Finlay in the book. We, we only see them together. A couple of times we hear about, you know, some historical things that have gone down, but I do wish we had seen the two of them kind of pitted against each other a bit more in the book, because I think, and maybe the movie version could pull that off. Cause I'd like to see, would like to see that. So Annie goes your pick for. 

[00:18:44] Annie Jones: Okay, well, now I admit that I think Dianna Agron is a good pick, but I went kind of similar cold manipulative, blonde, Amber Heard. So she's from Aquaman, but we mostly, well, I mostly know her from the tabloids. And so I really do kind of feel for her because I don't, and I don't know really anything about Amber heard.

I just know she enjoyed. Continually made news over the last 10 years. And so I don't even know. I'm sorry to say, I don't know how talented Amber herd is, but I'd be willing to give her a shot because I definitely think she has the look again when I did some deep diving into her EMTB and her Wikipedia pages.

I liked that she's originally from Texas, because for some reason I could picture this new wife love interest for this sod farmer to be this like Southern bell who can be passive, aggressive and manipulative and perfect. And Amber heard really is beautiful. Clear skin and her blonde hair. So that was my fix.

[00:19:49] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah. She's got really good RBF too. 

[00:19:52] Annie Jones: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

[00:19:54] Julie Anna Helms: Which I feel like would be necessary. Yes. My choice for Teresa is Gillian Jacobs from Community. She's also. Movies. Oh, okay. Yeah. So I she's one that I don't think has great name recognition, so definitely check out the casting photos, but yeah, I could see her being a real estate agent and also a husband stealer.

Cause she she's just gorgeous and she I'd imagine like if you're, if you're in a room full of people and you're just kind of scanning the crowd, your eye would stop on her. And I feel like Theresa is definitely one of those types of people. 

[00:20:30] Courtney Kinsey: Yeah. Yep. That's a great point. 

[00:20:32] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah. All right. So up next we have Julian.

Julian is a late twenties bartender and law student. He is a romantic interest of Finlay and he is a very kind and sweet, gentle. So I'm up on this one. My choice for Julian was Aaron Taylor Johnson from tenants more recently, he's in the Avengers movies, he's Quicksilver and nocturnal animals. 

So the photo that I chose for this was very strategic because he's in a white button up and I feel like he he's a guy I could see behind a bar with his sleeves rolled up, pouring drink. You know, I could just see it. So yeah, he was, he was my pick for Julian. What about you Annie?

[00:21:18] Annie Jones: Julie I came this close to also casting him so well done that he was my other choice, but I finally actually settled on Liam hints were Hemsworth, so I understand I get it. Everybody loves Thor. I am still stuck in the hunger games era where I never understood why Jennifer Lawrence would pick Josh Hutcherson over Liam Hemsworth.

I just still haven't let that go. And so I just want good things for Liam Hemsworth and I want him to get out of his brother's shadow and I don't, I honestly don't know what else he's doing. So why not play a bartender with this really great head of hair and. I think he and Elizabeth Olsen would look really good together.

I did my whole photo collage thing. I took a screenshot. I'll send it to you guys. So I feel like they would look really good together. And I just really, I don't know. I really like him and I like Chris Hemsworth. I think that's fine. But Liam, to me, I've always really preferred. So I just would like to see good things for his career.

[00:22:20] Julie Anna Helms: He is my most recommended male on casting.

At, for anything between the ages of 19 and 45, I'm at least going to a handful of people recommend him. Yeah. Oh, he is. He is well loved. So I could probably go ahead and call it on. Who's going to win this guy.

[00:22:46] Annie Jones: Maybe it's because we're all just, yeah. We're all just desperate for him for good things for him. Yeah. 

[00:22:53] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah. All right. Courtney, who is your pick?

[00:22:57] Courtney Kinsey: Mine is Chase Stokes. I feels so strongly about this. Every time we do one of these castings, I'm like, this is my ringer. Like this is the person I feel the strongest about. I pictured him from the very first scene with Julian in this story, because let me explain a little bit, let me fight for chase. First of all, I think I've told you to chase and I went to high school together.

So Chase is my former classmates. So that's where we know him from just getting he's from Outer Banks, Plays John B, but here's why like Tim for this role. So. The most that like you kind of learned about him is he's obviously good looking, he's got this really great head of hair. He's a bartender, but he's also a law student.

And I think that he posts even just from outer banks where he's mostly just like running around in tropical button ups. I think that you really get a sense of like, here's someone who's pleasant to look at. You definitely flirt with him. If he was your bartender at the bar, But then you start to talk to him and you think, oh wow, this guy's really well-spoken.

He actually has a little bit of like a deeper depth to him. That was stupid. That was a very deep me to say, but he definitely has a little bit more depth to him. He can keep a lot of secrets because. You still hunting for treasure in the outer banks. So I just think he would work really well in this kind of role where he's like, sort of like flirting with this girl, but then, you know, she's asking him these weird legal questions to kind of.

Exonerated herself from potentially being incriminated. Like all of the things come together. I think work well with like his character in roles that he's had in the past. He could definitely be blonder if you put a little sun in and that hair is already kind of light from again, running around the outer banks, but I just love him.

And I want to see him in something more of like, Romantic role, not so much like a teen action, thriller mystery kind of thing, but something where he can be like a real leading man that has a little bit of a softer side. 

[00:25:09] Annie Jones: Somewhere he can be a grownup. 

[00:25:11] Courtney Kinsey: I mean, he's 28. I had to look. I was like, how old is he? Cause I thought maybe early twenties, but Tony definitely could play a little bit younger with. The requirement here, so.

[00:25:21] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I can tell you worked very hard on that list of reasons Courtney. Well done. 

[00:25:27] Courtney Kinsey: That was one I really felt was like my most confident pick. 

[00:25:31] Julie Anna Helms: You had to fight for ya. I like it.

I like it. Alright. So our last character is Nick. He is a mid thirties police slash investigator. He is a, co-worker a family, sister and eventual, romantic interest, and as clever and thoughtful. So Courtney, who was your pick?

[00:25:50] Courtney Kinsey: My pick for Nick was Charles Michael Davis. He is probably most known for either the originals, which is the vampire diaries spinoff, but he was recently on the show younger, which I love.

Yes. He plays Zane on younger, who was Hillary Def. Kind of love interest for a little while, but he has really good, good cop, bad cop energy, which I think you literally need in this role, because I thought reading the book and I don't want to give too much away, but I thought maybe he and Finlay were going to develop some like into something.

So I kind of felt like he needed to be a little bit charming and flirtatious, but still be like a hardness detective serious about his job. And you kind of get that in. You know him following her around, throughout the book and how he gets kinda just like pops up at random times when he's investigating her case and all those things.

So I really like him. I haven't seen him in many other things besides those two shows. So I think this would be cool for him to be in maybe more of a movie setting or like Annie said, if this was to be a series, I think he would still be a great. 

[00:27:00] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I read the synopsis for the second book last night and it sounds like that character is back in the second book.

[00:27:07] Annie Jones: That's great. Yeah. Yeah. I think they were really building it up to be. Cause I definitely got kind of love triangle vibes and I think we're going to see more of that in the next book. Yeah. 

[00:27:18] Courtney Kinsey: Yeah. I agree. All right. Any, who's your pick for Nick? 

[00:27:22] Annie Jones: Okay. I'm worried. This is too obvious, but I just wanted to go with my heart and that is Michael B. Jordan. I just feel like he can play a hot cop. We recognize him from Friday night lights from black Panther. But again, Finlay Donovan to me, seems like it could be a quirky snarky comedy dromedy situation, which we haven't given Michael B. Jordan. Like he's done mostly dramatic things. I think he's done a couple of funny.

But I'd like to see him doing something fun and funny. And I'd also again, think you would have great chemistry with Elizabeth Olsen because like Courtney, I definitely pictured some kind of sexual tension and having to choose between Liam Hemsworth and Michael B. Jordan really feels like a Sophie's choice.

I'd like to see played out. 

[00:28:13] Courtney Kinsey: I would not be able to do. 

[00:28:15] Annie Jones: Right. So, yeah, I, again, worried, it was obvious I had a backup just in case, but I just really like him and kind of would like to see him do something kind of fun and funny. Awesome. 

[00:28:28] Julie Anna Helms: Yeah, that those two him and Liam, that would, yeah, that would be a tough one. So my, my choice for Nick was Corey Hawkins. Bringing back up in the Heights, he's been he's also in straight out of content and a couple of other movies. So I love him and in the Heights I think that he can play. Kind of that softer side of, you know, let's make sure you're safe, you know, worried about you, but also the, no, we need to get down to business and figure out what's happening here. So yeah, he's my pick. 

[00:29:00] Annie Jones: Oh, I really liked him a lot. I liked him in, in the height, so I think.

[00:29:04] Courtney Kinsey: I did too.

[00:29:05] Julie Anna Helms: I agree. All right. I think that, I think that's a pretty solid list of. Gonna be hard to 

[00:29:11] Courtney Kinsey: I feel good about that. 

[00:29:12] Annie Jones: Yeah. And not too much overlap. I mean, a couple of picks maybe, but I think that was pretty good.

Good job everybody. Ooh, hold on. So Julie Anna, tell us how, if you are listening to this episode and you read Finlay Donovan, or even if you didn't read Finlay Donovan, but you liked our descriptions and you enjoyed kind of playing along by listening. How can people vote for these casting? 

[00:29:36] Julie Anna Helms: Okay. So the Sunday following when this episode airs, you will be able to go to my Instagram page @julieannareads.

Annie typically shares it as well from her Instagram. So if you follow Annie just look out on Sunday for a link over to my page. I will have casting polls where you can choose between our three different options. And then Wednesday, after the polls expire, we will put the results up. 

[00:30:00] Annie Jones: Hooray. This is very fun. And can we just tentatively in our brains, imagine that Amy Sherman Palladino has created this mini series.

[00:30:08] Courtney Kinsey: Oh, a hundred percent on board. 

[00:30:12] Annie Jones: Perfect. Thank you guys so much. 

[00:30:15] Courtney Kinsey: Yeah, thanks for having us.

[00:30:19] Annie Jones:  From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf’s daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today’s episode can be purchased online through our store website:

bookshelfthomasville.com

A full transcript of today’s episode can be found at: 

fromthefrontporchpodcast.com 

Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations. This week, I’m reading Smile by Sarah Ruhl. Julie Anna, what are you reading? 

[00:31:01] Julie Anna Helms: I am reading Rabbits by Terry Miles.

[00:31:05] Annie Jones: and Courtney, what are you reading? 

[00:31:07] Courtney Kinsey: I'm reading The Dating Plan by Sara Desai. 

[00:31:11] Annie Jones: Oh. 

[00:31:12] Courtney Kinsey: Yeah, it's good. Did you read the first book? 

Annie Jones: The Marriage Game? No, I did not read The Marriage Gamet. 

Courtney Kinsey: It's so cute. It's one of my favorite romantic comedies of this year, for sure. And so this is the sequel.

[00:31:24] Annie Jones: If you liked what you heard on today’s episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you’re so inclined, support us for $5 a month on Patreon, where you can follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic and participate in live video Q&As in our monthly lunch break sessions. Just go to: 

patreon.com/fromthefrontporch

We’re so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week. smile by Sarah rule.

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