Who should play J.D. Salinger in the upcoming biopic?
J.D. Salinger sat for a portrait in 1952 with “The Catcher in the Rye.” (San Diego Historical Society / Getty Images)
Ryan Gosling, who bears some resemblance to J.D. Salinger, has acting chops and a swoon quotient that translate to ticket sales. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Leonardo DiCaprio has played a variety of literary figures -- Jay Gatsby, Romeo, Arthur Rimbaud -- as well as excelling in biopics as Howard Hughes and J. Edgar Hoover. But he might be too busy filming the just-announced biopic of President Woodrow Wilson to make time for Salinger. (Warner Bros. Pictures / Associated Press)
Jesse Eisenberg, the Oscar-nominated star of “The Social Network,” has proved his range with a slew of small indie films. (Ettore Ferrari / EPA)
Ben Affleck will be the next Batman, and he won an Oscar for screenwriting. So why not Salinger? (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has done comedic films and action movies -- and he founded the collaborative creative company, hitRECord, which makes films and books. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Alexander Skarsgard became popular thanks to his role on the series “True Blood,” which was a literary adaptation (in addition to being a sexy show about vampires). (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Admittedly, James Franco is a little more comfortable in the limelight than J.D. Salinger was, but he’s already played poets Allen Ginsberg and Hart Crane, has optioned a number of books, has written a short story collection and a memoir, and is behind the upcoming adaptation of William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying.” Salinger, Franco: It just might happen. (Andrew Medichini / Associated Press)