Thursday, August 2, 2007

What Gets You Hot? (ok, that should be 'who' but whatever)

Maven Lacey Kaye
Man, do I go for the serious, intense look.

My brother recently sent me this picture of Cillian Murphy from the new movie Sunshine. My mother has recently informed me the movie isn't getting the best reviews, but I don't care! However many million-cajillion dollars they spent to get *me* that picture was totally worth it.

It inspires me.
(Author's Note: My brother was actually not trying to encourage me. He was ferverntly hoping someone didn't make the mistake of casting Cillian Murphy as a Vulcan in the new Star Trek movie. He said he could totally see them "making that mistake" and then he sent a link to a picture of "Lacey's Guy-with-Way-Too-Big-of-Head-I-Don't-Quite-Have-Red-Eyes crush." He went on to say he thought Cillian would make a great Vulcan, but he didn't want to see the guy in "his" movie. My thought here is that my brother was tapped into what I'm about to say next about Cillian Murphy's expressive face or lack thereof. And yes, my family has ginormous email threads about Star Trek and other SciFi movies...)

I couldn't really put my finger on why I like this guy. I get a lot of weird looks for trying, that's for sure. It's something about the way I can project any of my character's emotions onto his face. Some people might say he isn't actually expressive at all -- all the best pictures taken of Cillian Murphy are like this one, with a similar, fixed regard on an unseen object. Or maybe he's not looking at anything. But my brother just happened to send me this picture right when I was polishing the very deepest, darkest, most intense part of my manuscript. And let me say, I was inspired.

So here's my new toy:

Yes, that's Yul Brynner. I think I've been waiting my entire life to write a book about him. In fact, whether or not I should is the topic of my post tomorrow over at laceykaye.com.

Today, though, I want you to tell me if you write from pictures, post a link to the picture in the comments if you can, and tell me why you're drawn to him (or her).


It's not just because he's a stud. There's tons of studs out there (trust me, I've looked) but you picked THIS stud to model your hero's face or personality on.

A winner will be drawn for a signed "Mavens Rock!" copy of Catch a Mate by Gena Showalter.

Who gets you in the mood?

19 comments:

Bill Clark said...

Very nice pic of Yul!

If you do decide to write about him, let me know. I went to school in Switzerland with his son an eon or two ago. Said son has done some work on researching the family history as well.

lacey kaye said...

That is really, really cool. Of course I meant "using his likeness" but I would love to have stories about him... We could make our own Entertainment Weekly articles!

CrystalGB said...

Matthew McConaughey and Josh Lucas

B.E. Sanderson said...

Loved Yul Brenner. *sigh*

The closest actor I can get to any of my heroes is Russell Crowe. Imagine this one of his looks in a park ranger outfit, and he's the hero for my 2nd book. Yummy

Kelly Krysten said...

Gerry Butler and anonymous hot models I spot on other people's blogs(ok, so the latter only happened once).

lacey kaye said...

You're all still entered, but you're not telling me WHY!?!

Why Matthew, Crystal? I picked Matthew for one of my heroes, too, but for the exact opposite reason I love Cillian and Yul. Matthew is everything that is fun and light-hearted. He has a playful look in his eye, and you just know he'd be a blast to hang out with. Ok, this is me projecting, but that's why I liked him for the character.

So...?

Jackie Barbosa said...

How is that we've been CPs for more than a year and I didn't know you were hankering to pattern a hero after Yul Brynner? Because I have seriously been jonesing to do that. He's HOT!

The hero of Unbridled is loosely based on a young Pierce Brosnan. I'd have to say this photo captures him looking his most Patrickish: http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Pierce-Brosnan-Posters_i334714_.htm. Why? Well, because he's Irish and yummy, I suppose. But also, I loved the role he played in _Remington Steele_ as this very charming but essentially noble con artist, and that captures Patrick's character to a T. The main difference is that Brosnan wore a lot more tuxedos than Patrick ever does.

Remy, hero of _Lady Libertine_, is modeled after Dave Navarro (of the band, Jane's Addition): http://www.tvguide.com/images/pgimg/dave-navarro1.jpg. I saw a photo of him in an article in my local paper and was just bowled over. It's the fact that he looks like the most delicious form of sin ever invented that made me pattern Remy after him. Remy lacks the tattoos, however.

Carrie Ryan said...

You know, I have NO idea what my characters look line. None. Some days I think one of the heros in my book has blond hair. Some days I have no opinion. I just can't ever see them. Clearly, I don't describe them. I just leave it up to the reader to decide what they want the characters to look like.

Erica Ridley said...

Wow, Cillian Murphy, yum. Never heard of him, but now that I've seen that photo...

I don't actually model my characters after existing people. Maybe if I did, I wouldn't refer to Gabe's hair as "dark" when he's actually blond. I've been meaning to start matching my h/h up to models or movie stars... sure would take the edge off of editing...

feywriter said...

I didn't realize it when I did the character profile, but my novel's hero, Jex, happens to look strikingly similar to Jonathan Jackson (one of my fav. actors). http://www.jonathanjackson.net/
Gorgeous angular face... serious eyes, even when he's smiling... a roguish look that works well for my thief. Even has the same skin tone and eye color.

lacey kaye said...

You guys are awesome at this. Keep 'em coming! Way to improve a rather regular Thursday :-)

Darcy Burke said...

I don't always use actual people as models for my characters. In Glorious, the hero is sort of an amalgam of different guys. Definitel Val Kilmer's mouth. :-)

I lurve way too many guys to list them all, but for "it" men, I have to go with Daniel Craig. Now he's got a bod for sin!

My mom would be lovin' the Yul pic!! (I do too, but she's loved him longer and more.)

B.E. Sanderson said...

Why? Hmmm. To quote myself: "...his dark gaze was a place any woman could easily get lost in, his jet-black hair had just enough of a hint of gray to make him look distinguished without overdoing it, his mouth was framed with a short, well-trimmed beard that looked as if it were velvety to the touch. All in all, she decided, he could almost pass for a satyr if he weren’t so tall." Besides, from every interview I've seen with Russell Crowe, he's a no-BS, take charge kinda guy. And every part he plays makes me breathe funny. ;o)

lacey kaye said...

B.E.--fabulous, fabulous answer!! Nice.

Shame on Darcy for not properly answering the question ;-)

Isabel said...

I do use pictures for h/h inspiration. For the longest time, the "original Mr. Darcy", Colin Firth was inspiration numero uno. :)
Now, I'm in love with Christian Bale from (Batman Begins with Cillian Murphy, too).

Why Chris Bale? It's that edgyness, mysterious, and "breaks your heart" torture soul that inspires me to put my hero through the ringer. Always walking that edge between right and wrong.

Oh, and lately Tom Colicchio from Top Chef. Talking about an intense stare! Woot!

Kelly Krysten said...

Lacey Quote:
"You're all still entered, but you're not telling me WHY!?!"
Weeeeellll,I just like Gerry Butler and he fits just about every romance hero evah (dark hair and pretty eyes and boy can that man brood).
And the model from a random blog I saw just so happened to look exactly like my hero Alec(at least what I always saw in my head).
Oh,and btw, I think Yul is a FANTASTIC choice to model a hero after. Did you see Anastasia?! Holy crap- he's deep, dark, handsome, layered. The man's got it all!!!

CrystalGB said...

I like Matthew McConaughey because of his southern drawl and his charm. His good looks don't hurt either. LOL

lacey kaye said...

Ah, nice, Crystal. Thanks for being a good sport :-) And Kelly, I'm so glad you agree re: Yul! I think it's time for him to make a comeback!

Isabel--Christian Bale, yum. You know, knowing what I know about your ms I have to say that's a really, really nice choice. I totally agree. He's so tortured-looking and yet so sculptedly handome.

Isabel said...

Isabel--Christian Bale, yum. You know, knowing what I know about your ms I have to say that's a really, really nice choice. I totally agree. He's so tortured-looking and yet so sculptedly handome.

Yes, he is a nice choice for hero *image*. And he is yummy!

Manuscript Mavens










Manuscript Mavens