The Dresden Files is an urban fantasy series written by Jim Butcher. The main character, Harry Dresden, is a wizard and private investigator. There are fifteen books in the series so far, but my first introduction to Harry Dresden was on TV.
The Sci Fi Channel ran 12 episodes of The Dresden Files in 2007, and then the series was cancelled. I really liked the TV show, and so then I got into the books. The books and the show aren't exactly the same, but they are close enough that if you like the one, you'll like the other.
The only thing that keeps tripping me up is Murphy. In the TV show, Valerie Cruz plays Murphy and she looks like this:
But in the novels, Murphy is short, blonde, and has blue eyes. More like this:
Valerie Cruz was cast as Murphy because of her "ability to effectively portray the character's personality in spite of the difference in appearance" (x). She is a great actress and I like her portrayal of Murphy, so much that I keep imagining Cruz as Murphy while I'm reading the books, years after the TV show ended.
I'm reading Small Favor right now, and there's a scene where Dresden and Murphy are talking in McAnally's pub. I know I was picturing Valerie Cruz because there's a mention of Murphy's blue eyes and I stopped on that sentence. Right, book Murphy looks different. Blue eyes. Blonde hair. I can keep reading until another mention of her physical appearance makes me pause, but most of the time the Murphy in my head is the Murphy from TV because that's where I first met the character.
Image sources: TV Murphy | Book (graphic novel) Murphy
The Sci Fi Channel ran 12 episodes of The Dresden Files in 2007, and then the series was cancelled. I really liked the TV show, and so then I got into the books. The books and the show aren't exactly the same, but they are close enough that if you like the one, you'll like the other.
The only thing that keeps tripping me up is Murphy. In the TV show, Valerie Cruz plays Murphy and she looks like this:
But in the novels, Murphy is short, blonde, and has blue eyes. More like this:
Valerie Cruz was cast as Murphy because of her "ability to effectively portray the character's personality in spite of the difference in appearance" (x). She is a great actress and I like her portrayal of Murphy, so much that I keep imagining Cruz as Murphy while I'm reading the books, years after the TV show ended.
I'm reading Small Favor right now, and there's a scene where Dresden and Murphy are talking in McAnally's pub. I know I was picturing Valerie Cruz because there's a mention of Murphy's blue eyes and I stopped on that sentence. Right, book Murphy looks different. Blue eyes. Blonde hair. I can keep reading until another mention of her physical appearance makes me pause, but most of the time the Murphy in my head is the Murphy from TV because that's where I first met the character.
Image sources: TV Murphy | Book (graphic novel) Murphy
I wish I could picture Murphy as Cruz. Instead, I picture her as Cynthia Rothrock. I don't really like associating my favourite character with bad martial arts films.
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