Patrick Schwarzenegger was cast as Gus Everett in Beach Read? I'm Here For It.

There’s been a lot of discourse online about how Patrick Schwarzegger was cast as Gus Everett in the movie adaptation of Beach Read by Emily Henry.

People are mad? I think that’s to be expected on the internet. lol

Emily Henry is one of the most popular contemporary romance authors out there right now. Her first novel Beach Read was published in 2020 and she has since published 5 more very popular books. I’m pretty sure all of her books (except maybe the most recent one?) have been optioned for movie and tv adaptations. There’s just something about her stories that click with romance readers.

But as with all things that are popular, there are fandoms. And every fandom these days seem to have a very loud online faction, who will share their opinions and tell you that they are right, and you are wrong.

Sounds exhausting, right? I think that’s why I prefer to enjoy my books and my hobbies on my own terms. But anyway, back to the online discourse that I started talking about in the beginning.

Patrick Schwarzenneger Cast as Gus Everett in Beach Read

The Casting Debacle

It was recently announced that Phoebe Dynevor would be playing January Andrews in the Beach Read movie. Which is great, in my opinion. I loved her in her role of Claire on Younger, so as long as she can do a convincing Amercan accent I’m good.

After Phoebe was cast as January, the readers started to question and speculate over who would be playing Augustus “Gus” Everett. We all imagine what the characters look like when we read a book, so the readers were impatiently waiting.

And then it was announced that Patrick Schwarzenneger was cast. And I haven’t looked to much into it (because why fill my mind with negativity when I don’t have to) but the people seem mad. BIG mad. And for a variety of reasons.

So Wait… Why Are People Mad?

So far the biggest reasons are that he isnt what they imagined Gus looking like. And because Emily Henry didn’t “like” the announcement on Instagram, people are saying that she is unhappy with the casting decision.

I guess that’s fair. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But I honestly feel bad for Patrick. He was probably super excited to nab this role and now the literary masses are upset with him for just existing.

As you can probably tell from the title of this blog post, I have faith. I think he could make for a very good Gus Everett in the Beach Read movie. But before I close out this post, let me tell you why.

Reasons Why Patrick Schwarzenneger Will Make a Good Gus in the Beach Read Movie

Personally, I think he has the Look.

Let me explain.

It’s been a couple of years since I read Beach Read, but I don’t remember there being super explicit physical character descriptions. So when I read about Gus and the fact that he writes literary fiction, I pictured a preppy guy. Maybe kind of like Glen Powell. In my head it just kind of made sense. You can disagree with me if you want, and that’s fine.

He has a Great Scene Partner in Phoebe Dynevor

I haven’t watched a lot of her work, but like I said… I really enjoyed Phoebe Dynevor in Younger. And I watched a little bit of Season 1 of Bridgerton and she was great. So based off of what I know about the two of them, I think they could work well together. Visually I think they will make a cute pair!

He Did a Good Job in The White Lotus Season 3

Saxon, played by Patrick Schwarzenneger, was not an easy character to watch in The White Lotus Season 3. In fact, he gave me the ick. And yet I still felt for him by the end of the season.

That’s called ACTING, guys. I haven’t seen that many of his projects, but clearly Patrick can act. He did a good job of taking a gross character and making him interesting and humorous.

So if he can do that with Saxon, who is to say that he won’t do an even better job with Gus?

In Conclusion

So I think that’s it for this blog post. I just have a lot of feelings about the Beach Read movie and feel bad that people are expecting the worst already. That doesn’t seem fair to me. I think Patrick Schwarzenneger as Gus Everett could be a really good thing and as readers and Emily Henry fans, we should give him a chance.

Remember whent the People We Meet On Vacation Movie came out this past Spring? They did a good job. So let’s have some faith in the creative individuals behind this project. 🙂