Mr. Poitier, It’s Time for Your Close-up

So, who would Kris Nelscott (née Kristine Kathryn Rusch) cast in a Hollywood adaptation of her 2006 crime novel, Days of Rage, the fifth book to star unlicensed 1960s Chicago private eye Smokey Dalton? As she tells blogger Marshal Zeringue of My Book, the Movie:

Sidney Poitier is Smokey Dalton. Hands down. The man whom they call Mr. Tibbs has the right combination of pride, toughness, and intelligence to play the hero of these novels.

But Smokey is in his forties and Sidney is no longer, unfortunately. So I’ve played with the idea of many different actors playing Smokey. All would bring something different. Denzel Washington can also do the anger/pride/intelligence but he’s always a bit vulnerable, when Smokey is not. He’s also the right age. Danny Glover is a tad too old, but who cares? He would be quite convincing. As would Morgan Freeman or Samuel L. Jackson or Will Smith or just about any major black star. (Don Cheadle is a small man, but I have a hunch he’d bring something quite unique to the role.)

Read (and judge) Nelscott/Rusch’s other casting choices here.