Writer Jodi Picoult says she hasn’t gotten over the “really terrible experience” of turning her 2004 novel, “My Sister’s Keeper,” right into a less-than-acclaimed film.
Talking to Individuals final week, Picoult shared how the 2009 movie adaptation of “My Sister’s Keeper” impressed a storyline in “By Any Other Name,” her newest novel.
Launched Monday, “By Any Other Name,” tells the story of playwright Melina Inexperienced, who has written a theatrical piece primarily based on the lifetime of Emilia Bassano, a Sixteenth-century poet who some historians have claimed was the actual writer of William Shakespeare’s performs.
Melina quickly finds her skilled trajectory mirroring that of Bassano’s when a theater competition plans to stage a manufacturing of her play underneath the idea that it was written by her roommate, who’s a Black man.
“It kind of goes back to when I had a really terrible experience turning ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ into a film,” Picoult advised Individuals of Melina’s journey. “It took me a long time to kind of wrap my head around the fact that they didn’t ruin my book. My book is still there. And anyone who reads my book is still getting the story that I intended.”
Frank Trapper by way of Getty Pictures
The film adaptation of “My Sister’s Keeper” was written and directed by Nick Cassavetes, greatest identified for 2004’s “The Notebook,” starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.
It follows 13-year-old Anna Fitzgerald (performed by Abigail Breslin), who seeks medical emancipation from her mother and father (Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric) after they insist she donate one among her kidneys to her cancer-stricken sister, Kate (Sofia Vassilieva). The movie’s starry forged additionally contains Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack in supporting roles.
Although “My Sister’s Keeper” was a modest success on the field workplace, the film obtained mixed-to-negative critiques from critics. Lots of Picoult’s followers took situation with Cassavetes’ determination to transform the movie’s conclusion from that of the e-book.
Picoult expressed her distaste for the brand new ending in a video posted to TikTok final 12 months, noting that she’d unsuccessfully tried to persuade Cassavetes and his group to hew nearer to the e-book whereas the film was nonetheless in manufacturing.
“I was really upset, so I flew to the movie set and I went to talk to him and he pretty much threw me off the set,” she stated. “The movie came out, and many of you didn’t want to see it or said that you liked the book’s ending better, and for that, I will always be very, very grateful.”
