Kiss Her Goodbye (A Thriller) (36 page)

BOOK: Kiss Her Goodbye (A Thriller)

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In short, the script was absolutely amazing, and I couldn’t have asked for a better adaptation. It was as if Dinner had somehow channeled my thoughts and knew exactly what to put on the page.

O
NCE THE PILOT
was approved for production, everything kicked into high gear. I was not involved in any of this, however. I was simply on the sidelines, getting occasional emails from the producer, Carl Beverly (along with partner Sarah Timberman), telling me who had been cast for the show.

First
Nip/Tuck’s
Dylan Walsh came on board. I had been a fan for many years and I knew that Walsh was an excellent actor, especially when he’s allowed to show his darker side. The character of Jack Donovan certainly has a darker side as well, and Walsh was, in my estimation, perfect casting. He’s also damn good in the role.

After Walsh came Terry Kinney, playing the bad guy, Alex Gunderson, along with Donovan’s
ATF
team, consisting of Michael Rapaport, Sandrine Holt, Sean Patrick Thomas, Lorraine Toussaint, Felix Solis—and Emmy Clarke as Jack’s daughter, Jessie Donovan.

She’s the girl who was put in the box in the ground. A brave young woman, indeed, and an amazing actress.

The producers were kind enough to invite me out to the set, and my wife and I went to Chicago to watch the pilot being filmed. Because of my hefty writing schedule, we were only able to make it out for a few days, but I’m sure you can imagine how rewarding it was to see so many people working so hard—and so brilliantly—to bring your creation to life.

C
AST AND CREW
greeted us on the set warmly, I got the chance to kid around with the actors, talk shop with the producers and the director, and see my book—the book that had originally been an idea for a screenplay—come full circle and be transformed into something alive and vibrant.

The first day we visited, they were filming several scenes at and around a lighthouse, in Evanston, IL. A special shed had been built and attached to one of the buildings and had I not been told it was a set, I would have believed it was the real thing.

For next several hours we watched a large crew of people run around like crazy, setting up shots, tending to the extras and the actors, jockeying lights, and doing what, to me, seemed like an almost impossible task. Yet they did it quickly and professionally and I was pretty much blown away by the whole thing.

I won’t kid you. I again got tears in my eyes—but quickly put on my sunglasses to hide them. It was hard for me to get my head around the fact that this all stemmed from my imagination. I had sat down a few years previously and begun letting this story unfold at my fingertips, never thinking that I’d one day be sitting on a set, watching it all in real-time.

I
THINK MOST
writers hope that their book will sell to Hollywood, but there are so many obstacles in the way, that it usually remains nothing more than a hope.

I’m one of the lucky ones. And even though CBS ultimately decided not to go forward with a series, I’ll always have those days, and the hour of television that come from them, to remember.

Like Jack Donovan, I'm not a religious man, but I do think that, in many ways, I have been blessed. And every morning as I crawl out of bed and plop myself behind this computer, I feel the urge to pinch myself.

Because this just
has
to be a dream.

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