A friend of mine recently asked “who would play the role of your parents in a movie about your life” and I instantly cast Sally Field in my next blockbuster hit. Sally Field has always reminded me of my mom and not just for her remarkable performance in Sybil, but Steel Magnolia, Mrs. Doubtfire, and even just regular interviews. Sally Field IS my mother. Does that make me Julia Roberts?
Now came the tricky part. My Dad was a giant lovable goof, he has to be Steve Martin. He tickles the kids when he gets home from work, settles in to read the paper while all sorts of hijinks unfold throughout the day. He can’t totally be trusted at home alone with the kids because they take all kinds of advantage of the fact that he is not well-rehearsed in the rules of the household.
I feel like those two could be really great together forever obviously, but my Dad died (cancer) and my Mom remarried our WONDERFUL stepdad, Bob. He wasn’t an amped-up goof like my dad, but he had an endearing silly side to him while also embracing all things nature. He wanted to provide wonderful learning experiences for us kids, so for him, I will need Chevy Chase. Chevy means well, but he’s dealing with reluctant kids and many of his efforts take comedic turns.
Now, as life would have it, we also lost my stepdad to cancer. My Mom managed to fall in love for a third time (Sally is adorably irresistible to men) with another Bob and for him I cast the ever-lovable Tom Hanks. A jokester, but also responsible. A romantic, but also adventurer. Sally and Tom are wonderful together!
The storyline will need some work. Our cast is prime for a really hysterical romantic comedy, however, both Steve and Chevy will need to die of cancer which is a huge bummer. Sally also will need to survive cancer at some point in the movie…it will be a great learning lesson for her six kids to realize that not all parents die when diagnosed with cancer. This puts quite a bit of pressure on Tom to come in and really be the hero we’re looking for. He needs to make us believe in forever again. He needs to be likable, he needs to bring a zest for life back into the script and I think he’s just the guy to do it! Most importantly he can’t ever die. And neither can Sally.
They will live happily ever after!!
Cathy Kennedy says
Kat,
You did a great job casting your parents life story but oh how tragic to lose your dad and step dad to cancer, then on top of that your mom is diagnosed with it. Life can be cruel! Your mother has to be a resilient gal surviving two husbands. I often think if anything happened, God forbidden, to DH and although he tells me from time to time that he’d want me to marry again, would I really be happy again with another man or do I want to find out? It seems like such a daunting thing and so selfishly I pray that I I may never experience the lose of my DH. Despite the sadness of your parents life I did enjoy reading which stars you came up to play each person and it sounds like you did a great job.
Thanks for hosting the writing workshop and I apologize for being absent last month while the A2Z Challenge consumed me but hopefully I’m back once more. Happy writing and have a good weekend!
John Holton says
So your Mom was widowed twice, too? I asked my Mom (a couple of years after my stepfather died) if she would ever get married again, and she said “absolutely not!”
Sally Field played Tom Hanks’s mother in “Forrest Gump”…