Katherine Heigl brings Stephanie Plum – the popular heroine of Janet Evanovich’s worldwide best-selling eighteen-book mystery series – to vibrant life in Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment’s ‘One For The Money’.

“Stephanie Plum is a woman who moves through the drama of her life with all the grace of an ‘I Love Lucy’ episode,” laughs best-selling author Janet Evanovich. “She destroys every car she owns. Her hair frizzes up in Jersey humidity. She can’t cook. She’s not going to stop a speeding train like Superman or catch a bullet in her teeth. But she’s the woman we all want to be.”

Since her first appearance in the 1994 bestseller, One For The Money, Evanovich’s beloved New Jersey girl-turned-bond recovery agent has solved crimes and nabbed felons over the course of eighteen global bestsellers, the latest of which, Explosive Eighteen, hit bookshelves this November.

As a recovery agent, Stephanie’s record is stellar; but she’s won the hearts of readers everywhere more for her genial humanity than her investigative prowess. “She’s heroic in small ways,” offers Evanovich. “She puts one foot in front of the other and at the end of the day, she’s proud of what she’s accomplished.”

Back in 1994, Evanovich could never have anticipated that Stephanie Plum would garner her a worldwide following and firmly establish her as a leading writer of crime fiction. Neither could she have believed that after seventeen years of interest from Hollywood, she would actually be watching film and television star Katherine Heigl bring Stephanie Plum to life.

“Seeing One For The Money made into a movie after all these years is…it’s terrifying,” admits the author. “It’s also exciting, it’s wonderful; it’s amazing. I absolutely love the movie. ”

Known for her charismatic work on television’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and the $200 million dollar box office hit ‘The Ugly Truth’, ’27 Dresses’ ($160M worldwide) and ‘Knocked Up’ ($219M worldwide), Katherine Heigl eagerly embraced the opportunity to create Stephanie Plum onscreen.

“For me, it’s always been about the story and it’s always been about whether or not I liked the character, and that limits me,” admits the star. “But Stephanie Plum is so much fun and has so much life in her. I fell in love with her.”

Not only did Heigl have to transform herself into someone radically different, she also had the opinions of millions of fans with which to contend. “Katie has a heavy burden because of the fan base,” says producer Tom Rosenberg. “Everyone has their idea of what Stephanie Plum should be. Katie had to make it her own while still delivering what the fans expected. There really aren’t too many people who could pull that off.”

“This project has been my little mountain to climb this year,” says Heigl. “It’s been really, really satisfying on a million levels to get to be a part of it and to make the trek up the mountain and get to see the view.”

Having seen Heigl’s performance in the film, Evanovich can’t imagine another actress in the role. “Katherine Heigl is so talented,” she enthuses. “She’s bold, she’s brave. She’s afraid. She’s vulnerable. She’s sexy. She has this wide range of emotions in this movie and she just nails them all. She walks like Plum. She talks like Plum. She absolutely is Stephanie.”

With Heigl in place, the production focused all of its efforts on doing justice to the source material, which meant finding the ideal supporting cast and creating just the right look for the film. As Gary Lucchesi explains, “We made a conscious effort to be loyal to the books’ following. We paid very, very strict attention to every detail.”

“I think it’s really, really important to get everything right,” adds Heigl, who is also an executive producer on the film. “You really don’t want to alienate the fans. They’re the people who have made this franchise. They’re the people who have given Stephanie and these characters a life after the first book.”

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/oneforthemoneymovie

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About the author

Claudia Sondergaard
Specialised in American foreign policy media discourse, I have a real passion for media and writing and feel comfortable in subjects such as human rights, politics, environment, social issues, movies, TV and books. Reporting from Denmark. Follow me @swirlgirlversus

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