Hollywood agents are scrambling to land their A-list actresses the lead role in a planned movie of the upcoming, buzzed-about memoir of love and self-discovery, “How To Love an American Man.”
They believe it is the perfect vehicle for sweethearts Katherine Heigl, Anne Hathaway or Zooey Deschanel to be attached to before it’s optioned into a screenplay.
Touted as the next “Eat, Pray, Love” but with “more heart,” the HarperCollins tome will hit shelves next week. And it already has dealmakers at Creative Artists Agency, Paradigm and United Talent Agency pushing to align their talent with the book ahead of its release.
“It’s worth optioning based on the title alone,” one top agent told us.
Paradigm was the first agency to get wind of emerging author Kristine Gasbarre‘s true story in 2010 when it reviewed the first manuscript. Heigl was initially discussed as the ideal fit for the role. Hathaway and Rachel McAdams have also been mentioned.
Meanwhile, Deschanel’s manager, Sarah Jackson, is also taking a look at the book.
Gasbarre’s story about relocating from New York to Italy to discover her roots and then returning to her parents’ home in small-town Pennsylvania after her grandfather’s death also tells about the love lessons she learned from her widowed grandmother.
But Gasbarre, who has been working with casting agencies, told us, “I have my heart set on Zooey. It needs to be a European actress. I want her to come attached to it.”
A rep for Deschanel, who’s of French descent, said, “While the book has been sent to Sarah to review, there have been zero talks at this point about Zooey being involved.”
HarperCollins senior vice president Lisa Sharkey said, “There’s been a lot of excitement around the book. It seems everyone wants to be the first in line to get this real American love story on screen.”