I guess you can see by the size of the image that my first novel holds a special place in my heart. Beginners unfolds in an altogether different place and time from our own - not a fantasy world or science fiction, but once upon a time in a town called South Ozone Park (that does have a tinge of SFF to it, now that I think of it) in Queens, New York. It’s the home of the Becker family.
Not that Hulu or Max is going to be breaking down my door to consult me on casting (the writer is the last to be consulted about anything) but the role of Chickie Becker, the novel’s spitfire midcentury South Ozone Park housewife & Renaissance woman, might be well served by someone like the actor in the pic above
from Beginners…
If Beginners were a limited series on Max or Hulu, this surly child actor would get my vote to play the part of Bessie Becker. If they can find a director who’ll put up with her.
photo by Ralph Morse, Life / Meredith Corp.
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