Picturing characters when you read

[shortstax]

When you read fiction do you visualize the characters as current actors, people you know IRL, or ever as yourself?  I nearly always choose a famous actor who I think would play the part. I have no clue why.  Every now and then a random person from my past embodies a character too. It's so weird.

This post brought to you by the fact that I'm picturing the lead character of "Dark Places" as January Jones. Anyone have any funny associations they've made?

[lindyanne]

Ya I think that's normal. They always have a 'voice'. When I worked I talked to tons of people and always pictured them so it was usually quote startling when I finally met them because they were so far off from what I had in my head for so long.

[lys]

I always picture the characters in my mind - but not associated with actors.  I see in my mind a physical build, hair color, and personality. 

[UnderProtest]

I always have a picture in my mind, but it usually isn't a real person. It often irritates me when they make a movie out of a book and the actors don't match up with what I envisioned. It also throws me when posters here don't match up with what I had in my mind. I guess I think everyone is blond here.

[shortstax]

Dec 30, 2014 9:56:19 GMT -5 UnderProtest said:

I always have a picture in my mind, but it usually isn't a real person. It often irritates me when they make a movie out of a book and the actors don't match up with what I envisioned. It also throws me when posters here don't match up with what I had in my mind. I guess I think everyone is blond here.

Someday when we have our MM convention, we'll see if you're right  <)

[UnderProtest]

Dec 30, 2014 9:58:57 GMT -5 shortstax said:

Dec 30, 2014 9:56:19 GMT -5 UnderProtest said:

I always have a picture in my mind, but it usually isn't a real person. It often irritates me when they make a movie out of a book and the actors don't match up with what I envisioned. It also throws me when posters here don't match up with what I had in my mind. I guess I think everyone is blond here.

Someday when we have our MM convention, we'll see if you're right  <)

Ha.  I've already seen enough pictures to know I'm really wrong.

[shortstax]

Here's a funny one, when I pictured Four from Divergent, I pictured this dude from Blues Clues (I HAVE NO CLUE WHY!)

To be fair, I pictured him more like this:



and less like this:




But when the movie came out and the screen was blessed with this man, I realized that it's a good thing I'm not a casting director, lol:

[shortstax]

Where are my pics? Why are the good ones not showing, lol

[SJ]

Dec 30, 2014 9:47:15 GMT -5 lys said:

I always picture the characters in my mind - but not associated with actors.  I see in my mind a physical build, hair color, and personality. 

Me too. I don't think I use people I know or actors.

[heyrebekah]

Not at all, unless I'm reading a bit where the author goes into detail describing what the character looks like. Then I'll try to conjure up an image in my mind, but never associated with any real people/actors.

[tine]

I always picture characters and voices but never anyone I know or anyone famous. Then I get annoyed at movies based on the book when the actor has a different look/voice than I imagined!

[asoctoberfalls]

I also picture people, but not actors. I just get an image in my head based on the description in the book. Usually, their facial features are pretty fuzzy, but everything else is clear. It's easy to describe and picture hair color, eye color, etc...but how do you describe someone's face? Not so easy, and usually not done in any great detail in books.