“In an attempt to make sense of his own mysterious and unsettling childhood memories, a man begins to reconstruct his past. As the games and adventures of his youth become engulfed by a larger story, he finds that it forms a tapestry of unbelievable horror that he never could have expected.
Each chapter (‘Footsteps,’ ‘Balloons,’ ‘Boxes,’ ‘Maps,’ ‘Screens,’ and ‘Friends’)
completes a different piece of the puzzle for both you and the narrator, and by the end of it all, you will wish that you could forget what he never knew.” Starting out as nothing more than a few short stories on
Reddit,
Penpal quickly grew in popularity due to the original nature of the story and some help from YouTube’s
“MrCreepyPasta. That’s when Dathan Auerbach, the author, took to
Kickstarter to raise funds to publish the newly polished short stories into one novel. With a goal of $1,500 set, it only took 1 month for Mr. Auerbach to reach nearly $16,000. After little more than a month, the novel
Penpal was released to rave reviews. Before long, there were talks of a proper adaptation into film with Academy Award Nominated Producer Rich Middlemas at the helm. Enter The Hierophant…
A little over 2 weeks ago,
“1000Vultures” (Dathan Auerbach) asked his Facebook followers a seemingly simple question:
“… who would you cast in a Penpal movie? Who would you pick to direct it?” I commented a couple of my answers but thought that this deserved more thought and more work put into it. The timeline of the story itself made the casting a bit difficult for me. Some of the ages aren’t the same as they are in the book, but we all know that age isn’t everything when it comes to movies. I chose actors who I felt could do the part justice and also could look the age of the characters they were portraying. So, without further ado, here is my FanCast for
Penpal.
Aside from David Fincher being my absolute favorite director, listening to “MrCreepyPasta” read these stories, and again reading them myself once the novel was released, the only director that made sense for a project like this was David Fincher. There is absolutely no doubt that this guy is immensely talented and knows how to make a brilliant movie out of an already brilliant story. The tone he puts into his movies fits the theme of these stories so perfectly. It’s like he was born to direct this movie.
Along with David Fincher comes his musical collaborator, Academy Award Winner Trent Reznor (that’s still an awesomely crazy thing to be able to say). The sound that Reznor brings to the table would perfectly set the tone of the film.
The cop actually only makes an appearance in the first story, “Footsteps,” but I’d like to see him in a few of the other stories, “Maps,” “Screens,” and “Friends,” since all of those stories require police officers in some form. The obvious reason I’ve chosen Vincent D’Onofrio for this role is that he spent 10 years playing one on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. While in the role, he showed that he also had a caring side to the otherwise tough and troubled character when it came to dealing with children, which is something very important to this role.
The character of Tom makes one very small appearance in this novel, showing up only in “Maps.” Tom ultimately turns out to be somewhat more important in the larger picture that each of these stories piece together. As I’ve stated before, I’ve always felt that every role in a movie is important. It makes no matter if the character is only on screen for 5 minutes or for 2 hours. For this, I went with one of my favorite actors, Ed Harris. While known for playing sort of tough characters, I looked at his role in Stepmom where he played the caring and loving father.
Crazy, old Mrs. Maggie, what an interesting character Dathan Auerbach created for “Maps.” In just the span of 43 pages, you find yourself really caring about this loving and sympathetic woman. My first choice for the role was Cloris Leachman, but I really didn’t think I would be able to look past the fact that she is Cloris Leachman. So, I instead went with Diane Wiest. In almost every role she’s played she’s portrayed a sweet woman. But it was her role in I am Sam, where she played the kind agoraphobic neighbor, which pulled me in her direction.
The mother appears in some form in every single story, so I looked for a strong actress that I wouldn’t mind seeing for the entirety of the film. I’ve always enjoyed Rachel Weisz as an actress (and she’s absolutely beautiful). For me, she’s a strong presence onscreen while maintaining something maternal in her performances. Evidence of this can be found in The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and Dream House. Something about her performance in those movies seemed… comforting. I have no doubt that this is a role that Rachel Weisz can easily pull off.
Veronica is Dathan’s best friend’s sister. The younger version of Veronica is only mentioned in the book during “Screens,” but I feel that she must be shown to provide a proper history between Dathan and herself. For this, I chose the young Bailee Madison. While she doesn’t have a good track record in films, her performances are pretty decent. Casting kids is always hard, but for this I just needed someone who could act like a young girl since the character is just an ordinary girl.
There really isn’t a lot I can say about Hailee Steinfeld that hasn’t already been said. At the age of 14 she was nominated for every award under the sun for her brilliant performance in True Grit, including an Academy Award nomination for “Best Supporting Actress.” While I have my issues with the Academy, there is no doubt that they made the proper choice in at least nominating her (I still maintain that she should’ve won). Hailee is a great actress with an incredibly bright future, and she would absolutely nail this role.
The stalker, as any fan of the novel will say, is probably the most important part of the story. For this, I chose Nick Nolte. Now, I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of Nolte. I couldn’t recall seeing him in anything that I particularly enjoyed. That all changed when I saw Warrior. I’ve since gone back and watched more of his movies and thoroughly enjoy his performances. We need someone who can be menacing (his voice alone does the trick) and be… well… a creep. One role sticks out that made me think he could really do it: David Banner in Hulk.
As I said already, casting children is really hard. For the most part, most kids aren’t particularly good actors. After watching Real Steel yet again (yes, I love that movie), I’m convinced that Dakota Goyo is the go-to guy for the role of Dathan’s best friend, Josh. He’ll get a lot of screen time since the youngest version of Josh appears in “Balloons,” “Screens,” and “Friends.” I realize that, at the age of 13, Goyo is considerably past the age of a kid in kindergarten, but he looks rather young for his age.
While I have to admit that I haven’t seen a lot of Colin Ford’s performances, I have seen one that I was impressed with: We Bought a Zoo. This older version of Josh is the version of the character that we see the most of. He appears in “Maps,” “Boxes,” and “Friends” which I would say is the real “meat & potatoes” of the novel.
I’m sure plenty of people saw this coming, but I can’t help it that Josh Hutcherson is one of my favorite actors. The kid is an absolutely talented actor who could fit any role given to him (in my opinion). The oldest version of Josh only appears in “Friends” for a tiny yet important part, but I feel that we could see him in a flashback during “Screens” when his sister is talking to Dathan about what happened to him.
Let’s admit that The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a mess of a film. While we’re admitting stuff, let’s not forget that CJ Adams did a great job in that movie. Not only in that movie, but in Dan in Real Life he did a fantastic job. I think he’s proven that he can take the lead of a film (in a film where a child is the lead). This version of Dathan appears in every single story within the novel with the exception being “Maps.” So I chose him because I feel that he can carry the weight that a role like this has.
Asa Butterfield seems like the natural choice for the role of Dathan that we will see in “Boxes,” “Maps,” and “Friends.” There is absolutely no doubt that this kid can lead a film. We’ve already seen proof of that in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Hugo. He’s a great actor who has been recognized by multiple award ceremonies at the age of only 15. He has a bright future ahead of him, and I think this a movie this strong would push him even farther down the path he’s already heading.
For the version of Dathan that we will be seeing as a young kid in high school, I went for an actor who has become one of my absolute favorites (not just young actors, but actors period), Logan Lerman. After watching Perks of Being a Wallflower (GREAT film, by the way), I knew that this kid has exactly what I want for Dathan in the film adaptation of Penpal.
The narrator of this film is Dathan as an adult. In Penpal, the narrator is the glue of the entire story (almost literally), and I can think of nobody better for this role than Paul Rudd. I can literally not think of any film he’s been in that I haven’t enjoyed or enjoyed his performance. I had to think of someone I wouldn’t mind listening to for the entirety of the film, plus someone who can give strong performances when Dathan has the discussions with his mother to help piece his memories together. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this FanCast. If you haven’t done so already, go out and purchase
Penpal and find out exactly why so many people enjoy this story and talks of a movie have already taken place mere months after the novel’s official release. Also, don’t forget to share this FanCast and follow me on Twitter.