“The Leisure Seeker” is a new movie starring Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland that opened last month, but it’s also the title of a 2009 novel by local writer Michael Zadoorian. He was our guest for the latest episode of the Daily Detroit Happy Hour podcast.
It’s an engaging discussion of the film (including it’s less-than-stellar reviews), his novel and how they differ from one another — Zadoorian was not involved in the screenplay. He also discusses his forthcoming novel “Beautiful Music,” due out May 1 on Akashic Books.
“The Leisure Seeker,” both book and movie, tells the story of Ella and John Spencer, two long-married retirees who hit the road in their vintage Winnebago camper against the advice of their doctors and adult children. Both are in frail health — she has an unspecified cancer, while John suffers from dementia — yet the book is warm and engaging. Ella is a tough-as-nails, funny protagonist; together, their tale is one about life, love and learning how to let go.
Zadoorian says he met Mirren twice.
“She was so gracious, she was super nice,” he says of his initial meeting. “The director introduced us. And she said, ‘Do you have any thoughts for the character, or anything like that?’ I knew they were sort of hesitant to even have me there on the set, just because they all had a script, and they were sticking with the script. And I said, ‘You know, I bet there’s not anyone in this room who wants to hear what I have to say.’ And the conversation ended shortly after that.”
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