Krysten Ritter thought she had the perfect pitch: a successful lawyer returning home to a small town scandal. A cold case disappearance. A disturbing ritual.
But it was a hard sell as a TV series, the “Jessica Jones” actor tells USA TODAY. Back at the drawing board, she pitched it as a novel instead. Her idea became “Bonfire,” a 2017 thriller blurbed even by Gillian Flynn of “Gone Girl” literary fame. Now, Ritter has added regular novelist to her accolades. Her next novel, “Retreat,” comes out next week.
Actors turning to diverse entrepreneurial ventures is nothing new – between haircare, liquor brands, travel and luxury wellness campaigns, your favorite star’s career likely extends beyond the screen.
When it comes to writing books, most actors turn to memoirs. After all, it bolsters an already impressive career built off of celebrity. But what about the growing number of actors including Tom Hanks, Keanu Reeves and Ed Burns who are writing fiction instead? Actors USA TODAY spoke to said publishing novels has given them a new outlet for creativity away from the screen.
‘What took me so long?’: Longtime actors find freedom in fiction
For years, Sonya Walger – known to many as Penny from the “Lost” TV series – was scared of writing a book. She’s been an avid reader as long as she can remember. As an only child, books were her “siblings,” she tells USA TODAY. Now, her debut novel “Lion,” about a daughter’s reflection of her larger-than-life addict father and unconventional childhood, is out in the world. Her second book is on its way and she’s currently writing her third.
“I’m such a snob about good literature and I just had felt like I don’t want to write a bad book,” Walger says. “I wrote screenplays … short stories and kept journals my whole life, and I didn’t dare write a book until COVID.”
Writing screenplays didn’t scratch the same itch that writing a novel does, Walger says. With more words to spend and luxurious prose to wax, novel writing is “symphonic.” She’s particularly enjoyed describing setting in more imagination and nuance and exploring what’s left unsaid.
The biggest shift, she says, is going from days on packed sets to writing alone in her office – a beautiful writing shed in the garden she lost when her home was destroyed earlier this year in the Los Angeles wildfires. The whole process has made her realize she’s more of an introvert than she previously thought.
“Acting requires and necessitates other people. To be a novelist is to work completely alone without anyone really caring what you’re doing or when it’s done,” she says. “Nobody is tapping you on the shoulder being like, ‘Where’s that novel of yours?’”
Ritter, on the other hand, says writing “Retreat” with a co-writer has felt collaborative – a sort of “two heads are better than one, and sometimes three, four, five, six heads are better than one” approach, she says.
The quiet writing time has given the “Breaking Bad” star more time to spend with her son, an invaluable shift in her career.
“It’s this amazing way for me to do all of the things that I love – character development, storytelling,” Ritter says. “And being able to have a bit of a schedule where I can work from my office from home, versus be on set for 17 hours – as a mom, it’s a way to do it all. And I’m not suggesting that I have that conquered, but it’s really important to me to be with my son and also have creative satisfaction.”
New ideas get a fresh perspective in the pages of a book
Ritter didn’t expect to turn into a bestselling thriller writer, for her it was always “creativity first, medium second.” It’s advice she wants to impart to other writers and artists: If you believe in your story, be relentless in your pursuit of bringing it into the world.
“‘Bonfire’ turned out to be this totally outside-of-the-box approach on how to get something made,” Ritter says. “That’s where I fell in love with that medium and decided to continue in that avenue.”
Now with her second book, “Retreat” (out March 25), she’s leaning all-in to the world of publishing. The new novel, about a beautiful con artist masquerading as a wealthy socialite, is “a little bit older, sexier” with bigger twists, she says.
Actor Diego Boneta (“Luis Miguel,” “Rock of Ages”) on the other hand, is marrying books and TV with his upcoming debut “The Undoing of Alejandro Velasco.” Amazon Publishing is releasing Boneta’s novel – described as “The Talented Mr. Ripley” meets “Match Point” – in May. At the same time, Amazon MGM Studios is adapting the novel into a series with Boneta starring as the main character.
The starting idea was to write a screenplay, and it was Boneta’s sister who suggested he turn it into a book instead of a script.
“It was a massive undertaking,” Boneta says, laughing. “Few things give me more anxiety than a blank page.”
Boneta, a thriller reader, wanted to reach out to other writers for advice before he started. The best he heard? Don’t treat the project like it’s just another film or TV script. The process has been vastly different, he says, but one he would do again.
“Sometimes (in TV) you don’t even have a script, you have a pitch, you have a couple of pages. … we’ve gotten stuff greenlit from literally a three-page document,” Boneta says. “Here, it’s really practicing the patience of no, no, no, a novel is not the same as a TV show or films.”
Fiction deepens connection with fans
Part of Boneta’s goal with writing “The Undoing” was to write about a place close to his heart. The novel is set it in San Miguel de Allende, a place the Mexico City-born calls “the Florence of Mexico.” He tells USA TODAY he’s excited for his fans to get a more intimate peek into his creative mind and experience the beloved city on the page.
“We’ve seen the ‘Narcos’ stories, we’ve seen the border crossing stories and that’s part of Mexico, but that’s not entirely what Mexico has to offer culturally,” Boneta says. “We wanted to write from a place that we were close to, that we grew up going to because it’s not just the place; it’s the culture, it’s the people, it’s the family dynamics.”
Ritter says her novels are another chance to explore the “bad girls,” the unlikeable, morally questionable characters her fans know and love her for, like Jessica Jones and Chloe in “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23.”
“My fans roll deep,” she says. “They know what to expect in my work, my oeuvre. It’s very on brand.”
Walger has appreciated a new kind of interaction with fans, one that has nothing to do with her onscreen roles. “Lion” is not a story for anyone who is looking for a tell-all from Penny from “Lost” and Walger says fans are meeting her there.
“Vulnerability begets vulnerability in others,” Walger says. “The response from people has felt open hearted and elicits the sort of the desire to share their stories, as I have shared mine and that’s really, really lovely. It feels like the book is doing a tiny act of service in the world it’s making other people open up.”
Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at cmulroy@usatoday.com.
