Lelaina meets Michael Grates when she crashes into his car. In return, he asks her on a date. Originally played by Ben Stiller, Michael is a yuppie, which essentially means he has a job, can afford to take Lelaina to the drive-in, and has aspirations. In our version, he'd be played by Jason Schwartzman.
Photo by Nick Haymes, Interview, September 2009.
Sammy Gray rounds out Lelaina's group of college friends. Sweet and funny, Sammy is trying to work up the courage to come out to his parents. Dane DeHaan is great in everything he does, and after The Place Beyond the Pines and Kill Your Darlings, we'd like to see him take on a lighter role.
Photo by Gregory Harris, Interview, August 2011.
Lelaina works for a daytime talk show hosted by a particularly unpleasant older man named Grant Gubler. In the original film, Gubler was played by Frasier's dad. We'd like to recast Gubler as a particularly unpleasant, not-quite-so-older lady (Gina Gubler, perhaps?) so that we can cast Winona Ryder.
Photo by Craig McDean, Interview, May 2013.
Troy Dyer, Ethan Hawke's character in the film, will never call you. You might see him in the coffee shop and he'll nod in your direction and give you an unenthusiastic "What's up." If you run into after midnight, he might stroke your hair and half-heartedly attempt to seduce you in between drunken stumbles, but he will never, ever call you. Aside from loitering in bars and coffee shops, his other hobbies include brooding, smoking, sarcasm, brooding, and not washing his hair. We can imagine still wanting to be Miles Teller's friend, even if he wasn't very nice to us, but we cast him in everything. Our pick instead is Christian Madsen, son of Tarantino favorite Michael Madsen.
Vickie Miner is Lelaina's best friend. She works at Gap ("the Gap"), and avoids long-term relationships. She's also pretty funny because she was originally played by Janeane Garofalo. If we had our way, she'd be played by Ashley Benson. Once you graduate, spring break is fo'ever.
Lelaina Pierce was the valedictorian of her graduating class. In the real world, unfortunately, no one cares; Lelaina is quickly fired from her uninspiring daytime television job and left with nothing to do but film her friends (for her documentary because she's creative, didn't you know?) and fret over dating the nice, employed, friendly yuppie or that emotionally unavailable man-child she didn't hook up with in college. Winona Ryder played Lelaina in the original film, and we'd like a brunette Elizabeth Olsen to be our modern Lelaina.
