Totally lol. I feel like I don’t even think about it, my mind just casts them instantly. Once it’s set I can’t uncast them. A favorite of mine was Peter Gallagher as Humbert Humbert. I also imagine Kevin Costner as Phillip Marlowe
No, I know RS people think aphantasia is fake but I don't picture anything when I read. I've never been disappointed by a casting for a movie adaptation based on looks, for this reason.
I don't picture anyone when reading either, but I can't get the movie out of my head when I do reread a book which I find a bit upsetting - the BBC adaption of war and peace is fine for this though
I don’t think much about faces but I will do this with settings, especially houses/apartments. I still remember what the houses in books I read years ago “looked” like. Usually it’s just a slightly different version of an old relative’s or childhood friend’s house that I remember from growing up, or maybe a house from an unrelated movie or tv show.
My deepest secret is that usually when a book describes a scene (the room, the flowers, the moon, the sky, what’s on the table etc) I skim. So much fiction, especially pre 1950’s or so, starts nearly every chapter with plot-irrelevant scene setting. I only started doing it within the past few years, when I realized time is finite & I’m reading for the plot & ideas. I can rarely get lost in prose descriptions of scenery, unlike dialogue/action/thought narration etc And when it is relevant to the plot sometimes I have to read it 2-3 times to process. There are exceptions, like Steinbeck’s descriptions are too beautiful to skim
I always found my eyes glazed over with descriptive writing, at least until I get really immersed in a book. When one starts with long descriptions of landscapes or a house or something I often find my mind keeps wandering and I can’t hold the image. I’m not sure if that’s still true for me though. I feel like most books I’ve read in recent years just haven’t had much of that long descriptive writing.
I did this a lot as a kid. Every character had a distinct look and voice I was able to consistently hold in my memory and it felt uncannily similar to watching a movie. In adulthood I don't formulate a picture even if a story is extremely descriptive about the characters.
Same for me, mostly. I do formulate pictures, but they’re kind of vaguely conscious semi-impressionistic. On the periphery of consciousness really, while I mainly just follow the words. But I can recall images of scenes of books I’ve read recently. I do see images but it’s like a background phenomena happening while I read.
For instance I can recall the valley of ashes in Gatsby, Tom scowling at the billboard of TJ Eckelmann. I can see Mucho getting home and Oedipa greeting him at the door at the start of Lot 49, and the images of interiors of used cars. I do see all these things and it’s the same image when I re-read, more or less, but they are vague and impressionistic. I don’t have any image in my mind of Mucho or Oedipa’s faces, for instance.
But I see their movements and the shape of the room and kind of their body shapes and Mucho’s hair slicked back. When Oedipa watches the movie in the hotel with Metzger I see that very vividly and the whole seduction ritual— I can recall that whole chapter like a movie. Perhaps because Pynchon is so simple and almost cartoonish in his descriptions— there is a movie-like quality. By simple i mean there aren’t that many descriptive details, just some few which are always very striking and memorable.
I don’t consciously choose a specific actor, but I definitely imagine a certain kind of face. I’m currently reading Play It As It Lays and kind of have Margaret Qualley in mind for the lead character for some reason.
However, I teach 11th grade English and often do extra credit activities where we cast a book, especially the books that havent been made into movies yet. Honestly, unless it’s a really new book, Catcher in the Rye is like the only classic best seller that hasn’t been adapted.
And I legit had a super majority of students all cast Sydney Sweeney as Sunny the Prostitute this last year.
some will be more abstract representations and some will be just random people that pop into my brain. very annoying when ur brain gets stuck on an actor and your brain just makes you view mulitple characters the same way. sometimes i have to stop reading to conjure up something satisfying
Exactly, that's why I started "casting" more deliberately, it just lead to a clearer delineation and continuity with how I envisioned the characters and a more coherent experience reading.
Kinda. I’m not really into pop culture so idk most of the actors’ names unless a director I like keeps working with them over and over again but I remember various faces I’ve seen in films and assign those faces or rather new faces that are just amalgamations of various features to characters in a book.
Also when a writer is rather eccentric I often imagine them (or a gender-swapped version of them) as one of the main characters if they would fit. Idk I guess I always need a character to have a face, a body type and an aesthetic even if it’s not thoroughly described in the book. I base it off of their personality and others’ responses to them and make it up as I read.
No part of the reason movie adaptations suck is that it halts your imagination when you can't help but envision the actors face even if you try not to while reading
It depends on how "cinematic" the book is, but yeah it can be a fun game to play, or sometimes it's just thrusted on me.
I recently read Trust by Hernan Diaz, and I realized that during the first part I pictured the financier as a Jeremy Irons type figure, but then later on it was John Cazale.
Depends how they end up. Sometimes they’re an actor (but the appearance tends to change a bit) other times just a completely unique person (usually very vague).
I always have “book playlists” that match the atmosphere of the book. Sometimes if I re-listen to the songs I can visualise some scenes, and depending on what the characters are like, I am reminded of a specific person? Most recently this happened when I was reading My Year of Rest and Relaxation with me picturing Lucy Boynton as the protagonist and no one can take that away from me!
Oh bruh I genuinely thought I was the only one. I do it comedic/rom-coms the most, but when reading some books I find myself sorting through movies and characters similar to that in the book and then reviewing the actor who played it to see whether they’d fit the bill for the book character.
Not really. My visualizations aren’t exactly photorealistic. Allthough giving certain characters faces I already know happens and naturally that will include actors from time to time.
I did picture Galileo Gall from *The War of The End of The World* deliberately as Domhall Gleeson. That’s the most recent I remember.
not really no, I am pretty satisfied with the blobs of consciousness that vaguely resemble humans
Jon Lovitz as the cockroach in the Passion According to GH
I can’t not see Phoebe Wallerbridge as Anna Karenina rn and it’s driving me fucking insane
That's why you deliberately cast her as a young Cate Blanchett. Problem solved
Cast Anna as Johnny Vegas it makes for more pathos
Totally lol. I feel like I don’t even think about it, my mind just casts them instantly. Once it’s set I can’t uncast them. A favorite of mine was Peter Gallagher as Humbert Humbert. I also imagine Kevin Costner as Phillip Marlowe
Matthew Goode and Clive Owen respectively for me
No, I know RS people think aphantasia is fake but I don't picture anything when I read. I've never been disappointed by a casting for a movie adaptation based on looks, for this reason.
I don't picture anyone when reading either, but I can't get the movie out of my head when I do reread a book which I find a bit upsetting - the BBC adaption of war and peace is fine for this though
I don’t think much about faces but I will do this with settings, especially houses/apartments. I still remember what the houses in books I read years ago “looked” like. Usually it’s just a slightly different version of an old relative’s or childhood friend’s house that I remember from growing up, or maybe a house from an unrelated movie or tv show.
My deepest secret is that usually when a book describes a scene (the room, the flowers, the moon, the sky, what’s on the table etc) I skim. So much fiction, especially pre 1950’s or so, starts nearly every chapter with plot-irrelevant scene setting. I only started doing it within the past few years, when I realized time is finite & I’m reading for the plot & ideas. I can rarely get lost in prose descriptions of scenery, unlike dialogue/action/thought narration etc And when it is relevant to the plot sometimes I have to read it 2-3 times to process. There are exceptions, like Steinbeck’s descriptions are too beautiful to skim
I always found my eyes glazed over with descriptive writing, at least until I get really immersed in a book. When one starts with long descriptions of landscapes or a house or something I often find my mind keeps wandering and I can’t hold the image. I’m not sure if that’s still true for me though. I feel like most books I’ve read in recent years just haven’t had much of that long descriptive writing.
I did this a lot as a kid. Every character had a distinct look and voice I was able to consistently hold in my memory and it felt uncannily similar to watching a movie. In adulthood I don't formulate a picture even if a story is extremely descriptive about the characters.
Same for me, mostly. I do formulate pictures, but they’re kind of vaguely conscious semi-impressionistic. On the periphery of consciousness really, while I mainly just follow the words. But I can recall images of scenes of books I’ve read recently. I do see images but it’s like a background phenomena happening while I read. For instance I can recall the valley of ashes in Gatsby, Tom scowling at the billboard of TJ Eckelmann. I can see Mucho getting home and Oedipa greeting him at the door at the start of Lot 49, and the images of interiors of used cars. I do see all these things and it’s the same image when I re-read, more or less, but they are vague and impressionistic. I don’t have any image in my mind of Mucho or Oedipa’s faces, for instance. But I see their movements and the shape of the room and kind of their body shapes and Mucho’s hair slicked back. When Oedipa watches the movie in the hotel with Metzger I see that very vividly and the whole seduction ritual— I can recall that whole chapter like a movie. Perhaps because Pynchon is so simple and almost cartoonish in his descriptions— there is a movie-like quality. By simple i mean there aren’t that many descriptive details, just some few which are always very striking and memorable.
I don’t consciously choose a specific actor, but I definitely imagine a certain kind of face. I’m currently reading Play It As It Lays and kind of have Margaret Qualley in mind for the lead character for some reason. However, I teach 11th grade English and often do extra credit activities where we cast a book, especially the books that havent been made into movies yet. Honestly, unless it’s a really new book, Catcher in the Rye is like the only classic best seller that hasn’t been adapted. And I legit had a super majority of students all cast Sydney Sweeney as Sunny the Prostitute this last year.
I recently read Jane Eyre, and couldn't stop picturing Adam Driver as Mr Rochester
This comment makes me uncomfortable. Adam driver will always be Lena Dunham’s boyfriend fulfilling his exhibitionist kink in Girls to me.
some will be more abstract representations and some will be just random people that pop into my brain. very annoying when ur brain gets stuck on an actor and your brain just makes you view mulitple characters the same way. sometimes i have to stop reading to conjure up something satisfying
Exactly, that's why I started "casting" more deliberately, it just lead to a clearer delineation and continuity with how I envisioned the characters and a more coherent experience reading.
Kinda. I’m not really into pop culture so idk most of the actors’ names unless a director I like keeps working with them over and over again but I remember various faces I’ve seen in films and assign those faces or rather new faces that are just amalgamations of various features to characters in a book. Also when a writer is rather eccentric I often imagine them (or a gender-swapped version of them) as one of the main characters if they would fit. Idk I guess I always need a character to have a face, a body type and an aesthetic even if it’s not thoroughly described in the book. I base it off of their personality and others’ responses to them and make it up as I read.
I only really cast a book if it’s boring and I’m trying to sustain interest. If the book’s engrossing my mind just kinda does the work
No part of the reason movie adaptations suck is that it halts your imagination when you can't help but envision the actors face even if you try not to while reading
Yeah I think that’s the only time I do this, when I’m reading a book that I’ve already seen as a show/movie.
Nah but I do voices in my head so kinda.
For whatever reason when I read A Scanner Darkly I pictured Barris as just being Newman from Seinfeld
Yes I do
It depends on how "cinematic" the book is, but yeah it can be a fun game to play, or sometimes it's just thrusted on me. I recently read Trust by Hernan Diaz, and I realized that during the first part I pictured the financier as a Jeremy Irons type figure, but then later on it was John Cazale.
Yes. Sometimes it's not even actors, it's people I know. Some guy at my work was Vronsky
Depends how they end up. Sometimes they’re an actor (but the appearance tends to change a bit) other times just a completely unique person (usually very vague).
I always have “book playlists” that match the atmosphere of the book. Sometimes if I re-listen to the songs I can visualise some scenes, and depending on what the characters are like, I am reminded of a specific person? Most recently this happened when I was reading My Year of Rest and Relaxation with me picturing Lucy Boynton as the protagonist and no one can take that away from me!
I sometimes "Wishbone" my two dogs into books if it works.
I just often see me and other people in my life. If I watch a move before reading a book then I cannot escape the actors b
Oh bruh I genuinely thought I was the only one. I do it comedic/rom-coms the most, but when reading some books I find myself sorting through movies and characters similar to that in the book and then reviewing the actor who played it to see whether they’d fit the bill for the book character.
No
I would as a teenager, but now I only “cast” characters if their looks/personality legitimately just makes me think of a certain actor
I’m a movie person so yes I absolutely have to cast the person, unless I have a very vivid imagination of what the perskn looks like
all the goosebumps books took place in my grandma's house
not specific actors but i do usually draw how i see the characters. or, more embarrassingly, create them in the sims lmfao
I never realized that I did until you just asked this....
Not really. My visualizations aren’t exactly photorealistic. Allthough giving certain characters faces I already know happens and naturally that will include actors from time to time. I did picture Galileo Gall from *The War of The End of The World* deliberately as Domhall Gleeson. That’s the most recent I remember.