Trainwreck

By Ankit Verma

Mailed on July 20, 2015


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Dear Alison Jones
Casting Director

Dear Alison,

Thank you for taking a chance. 

Trainwreck is a rom-com that turns the genre on its head. But it’s still about as rom-commy as a rom-com can get. And that’s okay, because this movie isn’t just a rom-com (I enjoy saying ‘rom-com’), it’s a stance. A stance in the face of Hollywood. It says that we are willing and ready to invest in a film with two leads that weren’t manufactured in the gorgeous celebrity factory. 

Amy Schumer plays an anti-commitment, single woman living in New York. She’s self-aware; she realizes that she doesn’t need to be a size 0 to be sexy (despite what studio execs had to say). She’s confident in her interactions with men, until she meets Aaron, an up and coming sports doctor who is persistent in his pursuit.

When Amy Schumer developed the script for Trainwreck, she was expecting a plastic princess to take the lead, but to her surprise, the Hollywood big wigs wanted her as the titular character. This is where you could have come in and decided to cast a Matt Bomer or Charlie Hunnam to play her love interest. I’m so happy that you didn’t. You went with Bill Hader, a man best known for mimicking a tauntaun and playing a metrosexual travel expert with a fetish for fetish clubs. 

How refreshing!

Amy Schumer has made a living by being a normal human being and pointing out how horrible the media is—but casting an “average” girl isn’t anything new in Tinseltown. They’ve been slapping ponytails and fake glasses on hot women for years. No, the real risk you took was also adding Bill Hader to the mix. This is the first time in his career that he’s been cast as a love interest.

Your against-the-norm casting is part of what makes Trainwreck so enjoyable. The film is jam-packed with celebrity cameos (Daniel Radcliffe, Amar’e Stoudemire, Lebron James), any number of whom are considered sex symbols, but they were all fillers. The real attraction is between the slightly awkward, pizza-loving Amy Schumer and the stiff, nerdy Bill Hader. 

Kudos on your peculiar but successful casting of Lebron James as the penny-pinching, emotional best friend and John Cena as the sensitive, closeted homosexual. Choosing athletes in the prime of their career and having them do a complete 180 was not only a pleasant surprise, but also a key element in making Trainwreck hilarious.

Given the importance of proper casting in highly anticipated movies, your strategic mixing and matching enhances the overall experience and ensures Trainwreck will be a sought after addition to the W network’s primetime slot for years to come.

With Bill Hader and Amy Schumer hogging the spotlight in this movie -- and Ike Barinholtz appearing as the love interest to Amy Poehler in the upcoming comedy, Sisters -- our traditional rom-com heavyweights might soon be out of a job. Can anyone spare a dime for a smoulder?

Sincerely,

Ankit

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