Saturday, September 05, 2015

Ginger Adams Otis’ "Firefight," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Firefight: The Century-Long Battle to Integrate New York’s Bravest by Ginger Adams Otis.

The entry begins:
It’s hardly a leap for me to imagine my book as a movie because the firefighters I’m writing about -- flesh-and-blood smoke eaters here in New York City –are genuinely larger-than-life. Their drive and charisma would easily translate to the big screen, and firefighting itself is inherently dramatic. Firefight would also adapt well to a period piece, given what it reveals the earliest first black firefighters in NYC and around the country and the discrimination they encountered. Wesley Williams, one of the city’s original pioneers, was a tremendous individual and any actor who got to portray him would be very lucky indeed! Here’s my casting wish list for Firefight the movie:

Young Wesley Williams: this one is easy, it should be his great-grandson, Chris Myers! He’s a Juilliard-trained Broadway actor who could bring his family history to life.

Older Wesley Williams: the perfect man for this role is Hisham Tawfiq, a working (soon-to-be-retired) FDNY firefighter now, Hisham is also a working actor currently starring in Blacklist with James Spader.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg: this actor is a little young but he could bring a lot of the Bloombergian qualities to vivid life, Peter...[read on]
Read more about Firefight: The Century-Long Battle to Integrate New York’s Bravest at Ginger Adams Otis’ website.

My Book, The Movie: Firefight.

--Marshal Zeringue