The Perfectionists TV Show Fan Casting

So I've recently started reading The Perfectionists, and so far, I am loving it. It's very Pretty Little Liars-esque--probably because it's from the same author, Sara Shepard. It's has the same atmosphere as PLL, but a whole lot darker. The book series is being optioned for a TV show, and I want it to be done right. It's going to be made by Marlene King, who is the show runner on Pretty Little Liars, so this show is probably going to be in good hands. I understand that things have to be changed for TV, but I hope the Marlene keeps the creepy atmosphere and personalities of the characters, as she did for Pretty Little Liars. The Lying Game, another Mystery-thriller book series by Sara Shepard, was also turned into a show, but instead of being twisted and dark like the books, it was turned into the light, stereotypical teen soap opera in the likes of Melrose Place and 90210. And it only lasted one and a half seasons, whereas Pretty Little Liars is now on it's sixth. But since this The Perfectionists TV show is happening, and I so want it to be equal to or bigger than Pretty Little Liars, here are my casting choices and suggestions for the show. And P.S, this show is being developed over at the CW, not ABC Family. So if this show does as good as PLL, then CW will finally have something to patch up that Gossip Girl sized hole in it's heart. (Sorry, but Vampire Diaries sucks)

What It should keep...

The dark elements. That's what makes a Sara Shepard story so good. Most Teen Dramas are usually light and bubbly, that's what made PLL stand out. It truly was the first of it's kind. It still had drama and romance, but it was also dark and twisted. If you're gonna adapt a Sara Shepard story, always keep the dark elements. The Lying Game learned that lesson the hard way. 

Another thing you should keep is that brilliant Twist ending in the second and final book! I'm not gonna spoil it, but it was so frickin' so genius!

What it should get rid off...

Some of the side characters from the books that didn't really amount to much, like Julie's friend Nyssa. Other than that, there really isn't anything I would change.

What it should Change...

One of the things that pissed me off in The Perfectionists is the dearly departed himself, Nolan Hotchkiss. I'm kinda glad that he's dead, but at the same time, I'm kinda pissed that we never learn anything else about him other than he's a heartless bully. One of the best things that the Pretty Little Liars TV show and the PLL book Prequel, called Ali's Pretty Little Lies, ever did was flesh out the Character of Alison Dilaurentis, Rosewood's Queen of Mean. We got to see her inner thoughts. Why she did what she did. Why she was so mean. What she regretted doing in her life. I'm not one who believes all people are born evil, so in the show, I want to see Nolan in flashbacks. I want to see why he was so mean, and why he would do all those horrible things. If he ever regretted doing any of those things. And possibly, they could pull an Ali on him and bring him back from the dead as a reformed mean boy who learned his lesson.

Casting choices...

Caitlin Martell-Lewis(Lana Condor)



Caitlin is the adopted daughter of two loving moms. And though she was adopted from Korea, she is an all-American girl who plays soccer. She hates popular boy Nolan Hotchkiss because he relentlessly bullied her little brother, Taylor, until he couldn't take it anymore and committed suicide. Caitlin feels extra guilty for not realizing what was going on until it was too late. Lana Condor is a newcomer, and she's starting off her career with a boom starring as Jubilee in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Mackenzie Wright(Sierra McCormick)



Mackenzie "Mack" Wright is a musical genius. She plays the Cello, and dreams to one day go to Julliard, like her mom. She hates Nolan Hotchkiss because he leaked embarrassing nude photos of her to the whole school. Sierra McCormick is an already established actress, She starred in Ant Farm as the freaky genius girl, Olive Doyle,

Ava Jalali(Naomi Scott)



Ava is a scholar girl, She loves to study. She didn't use to, as she believed that her looks would grant her an all-access pass to life. But ever since her mother died in an unfortunate accident, she wanted to continue her legacy by finally taking school seriously. She hates Nolan Hotchkiss because he ruined her spotless reputation by spreading a rumor that she had an affair with a teacher. Naomi Scott is going to play the Pink Power Ranger in the new Power Rangers movie in 2017.

Julie Redding(Molly Quinn)



Julie is the popular girl of Beacon Heights High School. She's fabulous and fashiony, but she has a secret. Her mom is a hoarder. She lives in in a cramped house full of useless crap and cats. And all of her high-end designer clothes are actually second hand. She hates Nolan Hotchkiss because of what happened to her best friend, Parker Duvall. Molly Quinn has a recurring role in Castle and has starred in other things.

Parker Duvall(Peyton List)



Parker used to be the Queen Bee in school, until her father went ballistic one night and nearly beat her to death. After that, she just didn't see a point to anything anymore, and became a loner, with Julie as her only friend. She hates Nolan because he was the reason her father went over the handle that night. Peyton List is a famous Disney actress. She was in Jessie and a bunch of other shows.

Nolan Hotchkiss(Cody Christian)



Nolan Hotchkiss is the popular, rich, handsome bully. People hate him as much as they love him. He rules Beacon Heights with an iron fist...until he was mysteriously killed with Cyanide at a party. Cody Christian stars in TV shows like Teen Wolf and Pretty Little Liars, a popular TV show that was also based on a book series by Sara Shepard.

Similarities & Differences: Pretty Little Liars Book&TV series

WARNING: Spoilers for the ABC Family show and the book series by Sara Shepard

Pretty Little Liars has become a global phenomenon. I myself am a fan of the show. I jumped in on season 3, and worked my way through both ends, watching the first two seasons, which I shamefully admit to not watching while they were still airing, and followed the rest of the show through. While I am a fervent supporter of the show, I began reading the books by Sara Shepard, of which the TV show is based on, and to my surprise, I actually like the books better than the TV show. Don't get me wrong, the TV show is brilliant on it's own way, it tackles some great social issues within it's episodes, particularly anything that has to do with Emily, but I just think the books are done much better.

Similarities

Both TV show and Book series have the same premise. Four girls, Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Emily, drift apart after their best friend and leader of their clique, Alison Dilaurentis, goes missing. On their Junior year of High School, they begin receiving personal messages from a character known as 'A', all of which had something to do with their missing friend. at first, they think it's Ali herself, playing a practical joke on them before making a big comeback, but things only get worse when Alison's corpse is discovered. Suspicions are raised. Who is A? How does he/she know their secrets? And what does he/she know about Ali's death?

The TV show and Book series had a lot of similarities in the first three seasons. The first being the personalities of the four main characters. Spencer is an overachiever who just can't seem to step out of her sister's shadow, Aria is the artistic individual who feels she doesn't belong in perfect, typical Rosewood, Emily is the sporty girl who's struggling to come to terms with her sexuality, and Hanna is the extremely pretty popular girl who has a low self-esteem. The Villain 'A' is also very similar in books and TV series, as he/she is described as A hooded figure dressed in black. 'A' doesn't show up in physical form in the book series until Wicked. Hanna described it as looking like "The Grim Reaper" 

Several plot lines are also very identical between the show. Somewhere in season one, Spencer decides to plagiarize Melissa's paper from High School to help her depleting grades. This was done in the books too, but had a bigger consequence. Ultimately "Spencer's" paper is nominated for a Golden Orchid, which is described as the "High School Essay equivalent of an Oscar." The reveal of the first 'A' is almost identical to the events of the books, only with minor differences. Mona was revealed to be 'A' in the books and TV series, only except the show sympathizes with Mona a little more, and extends her story line, revealing that she actually had a mental illness that caused her to do what she did, whereas in the books, she is killed off immediately after it's revealed that she's 'A'. In the books, Mona is just an evil bitch with one motive- Revenge.

Probably the most similar in character and appearance in both medium is the dead bitch herself, Alison Dilaurentis. In both books and show, Ali is described as the most popular girl in school. She has wavy blonde hair, blue eyes and a heart shaped face. The only real difference is the redemption of Ali in the show. In the show, she's actually alive and becomes a decent person. In the books, she's dead. She died the night of the sleepover and really was the body found under the Gazebo.

Both TV show and Books have a clear doll obsession. The cover of the books are actually barbies dressed as the main characters. In the show, dolls are an important aspect of the show.

Differences

See The Difference?

For every similarity between the books and TV show, there are 10 more deviations. Where do I even begin. I've already mentioned how the show got the personalities of the four leading ladies spot on with the book characters, but that's about it. The actresses who play the Liars bear little or no similarity with the descriptions of the girls in the books, as well as the models in the covers of the books. The closest one in physical appearance is probably Aria, but even she's not completely similar to the book character's appearance.  Aria in the TV show has dark hair, similar to the Aria in the book series, but in the books, Aria is described as being really tall, having a Ballerina frame, unlike the TV show, which has made a recurring joke about Aria's short height. The girls in the books go to a private school called Rosewood Day, while the ones in the show go to Rosewood High, a public school.

Toby dies in the second book...Spoiler alert!

Aria and Noel, arguably the book series' IT couple, aren't even a thing in the show. Sure, Aria and Noel dated for a while in the beginning of season one, but then they break up after she realizes that Noel is actually a douche, which he isn't in the books. In the books, Noel is probably the most consistent boyfriend character, aside from Mike, who is Hanna's love interest. And remember that thing in the show where Ezra is suspected of being A when it's revealed that he and Ali had a secret relationship, and Aria has a serious meltdown over this, and then Ezra almost gets killed by A and has to go to the hospital, but in the end gets back together with Aria? That happens in the books, too, but only with Noel instead of Ezra, who is actually similar to what Noel is in the show, which is very different for their characters. In fact, a lot of the characters in the show have way different personalities than their counterparts in the books. For example, Jenna in the show is very despicable, but in the books, you really feel bad for her. All she wanted to do was to get Toby away from her. Oh, we'll get to that little twist in a moment. Another character that's drastically different is Darren Wilden, who in the show, acts as a secondary antagonist, is actually someone who helps the girls out most of the time in the books. He's the first person the girls go to when they're in trouble. Perhaps the mot different character in the show from the books is hands down Toby. Who doesn't love Toby in the show? #Spoby. But if you're a hardcore Toby fan who only knows the show, and nothing about the books, then I suggest turning your head the other way if you don't want you're Toby love to be tainted. So, in the show, Jenna forces herself on Toby, and is wrongfully judged by the town of Rosewood as a freak. In the books, all the judgement Toby gets from the town is highly justified, because in the books, he was a freak and a pervert. In the books, Toby is described as being very creepy and he was actually forcing himself on Jenna, not the other way around. And you know how in the show, where Ali thinks that Toby was watching her and her friends through the window as they were trying on clothes, when it was actually Ian? In the books, It was Toby, and not only does Ali clearly see him, but the other four girls see him as well. He does eventually reform, becoming a swimmer and even becomes quite handsome. But by the time that happens, the damage was already done, and when he thinks that Emily knows about what he did to Jenna, he kills himself in the woods. And that's the end of Toby. There's no hooking up with Spencer, no trying to find out what happened to his mom and no joining the police force.

This was a MAJOR thing in the books

There are also a handful of characters the show made up (Caleb, Paige, Liam) and another handful of characters from the books that don't exist in the show. (Iris, Nick, Tabitha and Isaac). Naomi and Riley, Hanna's rivals throughout the whole book series, only show up once in the show.

The Identity of 'A' is a mixed bag. Both book and TV show have the same first 'A'. It was Mona, but for the second 'A' is when things get tricky. In the books, it's actually Ali's revenge-crazy twin sister, but in the show, it was misunderstood Charlotte Dilaurentis, a secret Dilaurentis child who, like Courtney, spent a good chunk of life in a mental hospital. The show sympathizes with their Charlotte a little more, as it had with many characters. She's a misunderstood girl who really loves her sister, while in the books, Courtney(Who is actually the real Alison) is just a straight up villain who's only mission is to kill the four girls.

Ali & Courtney