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I get asked a lot if I base my characters on real people or if they’re products of my imagination. Well, they are totally made up people. Perhaps a compliation of a dozen people I’ve met or seen with the extra baggage of a past that I’ve created.
Characters go much deeper than a picture, though I often go through magazines and clip photos of celebrities or models that fit my mental image of the character and post them just for a quick reference. But that image has to “talk” to me in some way.
They can’t just be a name or pretty face (or a not so pretty face.) I have to see an expression or attitude that fits a mood or a trait of the character.
A couple of times I’ve made collages of works in 
progress. Here’s the one I made for A Cowboy Christmas which debuts in Oct. I’m not a huge Matthew McConaughey fan but his pose in this ad for Stetson was perfect for my hero. So were the images of the other actors and models. When I combined them all (in a not so artistic fashion) it helped to keep the conflicts of each character right in front of my eyes.
Of course there are some real people that just stand out for one reason or another. Like Johnny Depp.
In Pirate Tycoon Forbidden Baby, my July release from Harlequin Presents, I couldn’t get the image of Johnny Depp from my mind. I kept seeing him as Captain Jack Sparrow, and then as the suave celebrity of today on my fictional island in the Carribean. That odd duel image fit my hero, Andre Gauthier, who was a decendent of French Pirates and was a modern day corporate raider.
I’m giving away an autographed copy of Pirate Tycoon Forbidden
Baby to one lucky commenter. If you’re an author, have you used celebrities as character models? If you’re a reader, have you imagined an actor portraying a character in a novel you’re read?
The winner will be announced on Sunday.
Filed in: Jaunty Post
Sep 11th
2009
6:30 am
kristan higgins Said:
Great post, Janette! I too am occasionally inspired by a celeb face, but only for my heroes. Maybe it’s because I’m a girl, but I never need help with the heroine. But by the time I’m done with a book, my hero has always become his own person, and the celeb face no longer applies. For me, it’s usually not just good looks that get me…it’s a face that interests me for whatever reason. A particularly lovely smile, maybe, or scowl lines. A face that makes me think, rather than one that conveys perfection.
As for pirates, I think Johnny has the corner on the market there. Jack Sparrow is rather unforgettable!
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Sep 11th
2009
7:11 am
Emily McKay Said:
Robyn is the one who turned me on to using pictures of actors (or actresses) to ‘cast” my characters.
It’s not about which actor you pick, it’s about finding a particular picture of that actor. The right context or expression.
I always use actors (as opposed to models) because they’re so good at conveying emotion and that’s what’s important.
One of the nice things about ‘casting” your characters is that then I don’t have to make decisions about things like eye color. I really don’t care about that, so it’s nice to just look at the picture and say, Okay, his eyes are green. Done.
Plus, for my heroines, then I can find pictures of them in other outfits and know what colors they look good in.
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Sep 11th
2009
8:58 am
Rainy Said:
Yes, I’ve flipped through many a magazine, searching for the face of a particular character, not necessarily a celebrity though. Often, it’s just a model who embodies the qualities of my character. It’s something that just comes off the page and you know instantly, that he/she’s the one.
For me, it helps to see an image as I’m creating their story
As a reader? Often a character is described so I can’t help but think of a particular celebrity. What makes it confusing is when you see read a book that is made into a movie and nobody matches up with the image in your head or on the page.
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Sep 11th
2009
9:00 am
Linda Henderson Said:
I don’t particulary pick a celebrity face for my hero but I do imagine what they would look like. Well of course any pirate must be Johnny Depp. That goes without saying. I always picture what the characters in the book would look like.
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Sep 11th
2009
9:17 am
eap Said:
I make up my own hero’s face not an actor’s.
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Sep 11th
2009
9:30 am
Shana Said:
I use the author’s description to create an image in my mind. For my own characters, I will sometimes use a picture but I don’t always care much about the physical attributes as I do the attitude of the subject in the picture. Most of the time I don’t use anything but my imagination.
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Sep 11th
2009
9:59 am
RobynDeHart Said:
I’m not much of a visual reader or writer – it was the main reason I started casting my characters. I tried the magazine route, but I ended up trying to create a face out of certain features and then I had this macabre file of cut out noses and eyes and mouths. Very strange. So then I started with on-line pictures of actors and actresses, but like Emily said it’s about the emotion the specific image portrays rather than that specific person. As a reader I don’t tend to visualize anything no matter how well the writer describes something. But I get a great feel for the character and story through the dialogue – I can hear them and that creates the images in my mind. The same is true in my own writing, it’s why I work so hard on my descriptions. All of this continues to be strange to me considering that in every other aspect of my life I’m totally visual. Go figure.
Great post, Jan, sorry to ramble on myself…
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Sep 11th
2009
11:50 am
Margo Maguire Said:
Hmmm… I don’t really have an actual picture of my characters in mind when I write – just a general sense of who they are, physically, because I care more about what their conflicts are. Obviously, the h/h aren’t going to be trolls, but I don’t really get a solid picture until I’m almost finished with the book!
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Sep 11th
2009
12:49 pm
Janette Kenny Said:
Kristin, it’s those expressions or attitudes that I look for as well. Yeah, JD has the pirate personna covered.
Exactly, Emily! You know the right picture when you see it.
I hate to watch movies taken from novels for that reason Rainy. It’s not just the characters that change but the story is often waydifferent too.
Linda, I tend to do that as well which makes finding a pic in a mag more challenging.
Shana Ihate when the cover characters are so different than whart the author described. It’s like the art dept was clueless.
Interesting that most of us do look for that certain emotion or attitude ratherthan “looks.”. Robyn your attention to detailed decription is evident in your books.
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Sep 11th
2009
2:42 pm
Minna Said:
No, I have never imagined an actor portraying a character in a novel I’ve read.
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Sep 11th
2009
3:20 pm
Maureen Said:
There are some stories that the description of the hero reminds me of a particular actor but that doesn’t happen too often.
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Sep 11th
2009
4:46 pm
Janette Kenny Said:
Margo, that happened to me with a recent wip. I knew my heroine’s backstory, baggage, etc. But I never got a clear mental image of her physically. Drove me crazy at times.
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Sep 11th
2009
4:55 pm
Janette Kenny Said:
Minna and Maureen, I’ve only read a couple of novels and immediately thought of an actor who’d fit the character.
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Sep 11th
2009
6:43 pm
Mitzi Hinkey Said:
I don’t think of actors when I’m reading a book. My mental image comes from the author. However, once I’ve read a book and then it is made into a movie…from that book forward I tend to visualize the actor in future books portraying the same character; such as Harrison Ford in the Clancy novels.
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Sep 11th
2009
6:52 pm
Janette Kenny Said:
eap, I don’t think you’re alone in that regard. A lot of readers prefer to picture the characters in their mind.
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Sep 11th
2009
7:03 pm
Janette Kenny Said:
Mitzi, that’s an excellent example. I can’t imagine anyone but Harrison Ford in that role now.
Though the movie was from a comic strip, I’ll always picture Christopher Reeves as Superman.
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Sep 12th
2009
4:55 am
Serenissima Said:
I very rarely have imagined some celebrity to portray as a character in a novel I read. I think that I mix the picture in the cover and writer´s description in my mind.
But this is not the most important thing about the hero. As Mitzi H said, the mental image of him developes throughout the book. But I have to admit that there have been couple of heroes, that have resempled a lot of certain Mr Armitage. 
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Sep 12th
2009
7:27 am
Janette Kenny Said:
Serenissima, I’d bet you’re not the only reader who’s pictured him as the hero.
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Sep 14th
2009
11:22 am
KathrynSmith Said:
I cast all my books. I used to be embarrassed to admit it, but I’m not anymore — well, not as much! Sometimes finding that right person who could ‘play’ the character really helps me with getting into who that character is based on my perception of the actor in the role. Sounds strange, but it works for me! An upcoming hero is actually inspired by Mr. Armitage! lol.
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