The Willow Glen Resident

'This Body' may soon be seen on the silver screen

Willow Glen writer gets a movie deal for her first novel

By John Pancharian

If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended: movie deal.

Willow Glen author Laurel Doud pets her golden retriever Oberon while explaining that Thisby, Quince and the other characters in her first novel may end up on the silver screen one midsummer night.

This Body, Doud's story of a middle-aged mom who dies and wakes up in the body of a 22-year-old, has only been on bookstore shelves a few months but already has the agent-types buzzing about a second printing--and some Hollywood heavies gearing up to make a movie out of it. Doud says she received a call from her literary agency Aug. 20 informing her that George Armitage, director of Grosse Pointe Blank; David Friendly, producer of Courage Under Fire; and the Fox 2000 studio had expressed interest.

"The director says if we do the screenplay right, this is Oscar material," Doud said. She says a "Best Actress" award might go to "a young actress who somehow conveys that her soul is a woman in her 40s with two kids." Doud says she might suggest casting Cameron Diaz or Liv Tyler because they have the right body type, but she thinks Angelina Jolie would play the role best.

The producer--Doud quoted him verbatim--said, "This is a high-concept drama whose time has come." Whatever that means, it sounds good.

In spite of all the Tinseltown enthusiasm, This Body contains some elements which may be difficult to translate to the screen--and which Hollywood filmmakers are typically squeamish about portraying. Thisby, the young woman whose body the protagonist Katharine inhabits, has a dark side full of difficult issues for a ratings board. She is an alcoholic who acts as a courier for her drug-dealing boyfriend and, Doud hints, may have a history of familial abuse or incest. Add to this plentiful monologue interior to Katharine, and the challenge of translating the book mounts.

Doud says she doesn't really expect a good film version, but she also expresses confidence in Armitage's ability to handle Thisby's shadows with the same black humor he used in Grosse Pointe Blank.

"I've had quite a few conversations with George and the studio," Doud said. "They seem down to earth and seem to love the book as it is."

The one thing lacking is a screenwriter. Doud, citing as an inspiration for her novel an old Star Trek episode in which Captain Kirk is split into his good and evil sides, said she would prefer a woman writer. She fears the subtlety of a woman changing bodies may be lost if handled by a male writing where no man has gone before.

In spite of all the lunches with producers and public readings, Doud seems unaffected by her success. Though the producer is optimistic, Doud reminds herself that only about 10 percent of material optioned as hers has been actually ends up on screen. She still has to go to work every morning, and if ever she becomes too haughty, she reminds herself of her appointments with the insurance company about the flooding in her house.

"I don't understand how anybody gets a big head, because life keeps you humble," she said.

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