“Andy runs around, sees a little part of the window open, and says, ‘OK, cool,’” Tuer recalls. “Then he gets a stick and gets another longer stick and somehow uses them to open the driver-side door. I thought ‘Wow, I don’t have to call triple A! Andy was always a problem solver.” Weir didn’t know when he created the protagonist for his debut novel, “The Martian,” he was writing for Matt Damon’s next starring role. Based largely on himself, Weir shares many traits— including a wry sense of humor—with his lead character, Mark Watney. His sarcasm, combined with heavy doses of suspense and hard science, helped “The Martian” skyrocket to the top of the New York Times best-seller list. It also piqued the interest of an A-list cast, including Jessica Chastain and Jeff Daniels, as well as executives at 20th Century Fox who optioned the film. With seasoned screenwriter Drew Goddard (who penned the script for 2013’s 68 South Bay Accent “World War Z”) and space-centric director Ridley Scott (of “Alien” fame) on board, the Oct. 2nd release has been cleared for liftoff. In the book, Watney finds himself stranded on Mars, left by his crewmates, who thought he was dead. Through remarkable intelligence, resourcefulness and a whole lot of math, Watney devises a series of innovative strategies to survive in hopes of one day being rescued. He communicates his struggles through log entries, which give detailed accounts of the day’s activities. Most of the entries, along with his dialogues with scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, are seasoned with Watney’s offbeat wit: JPL: What we can see of your planned cut looks good. We’re assuming the other side is identical. You're cleared to start drilling. WATNEY: That’s what she said. JPL: Seriously, Mark? Seriously? Judging from a recent interview with Weir and accounts from friends and family, Watney’s sense of humor is a lot like Weir’s. “The sarcastic wit has always been there,” says Casey Grimm, who has been friends with Weir for almost three decades. “As teenagers, we were the only ones who could tolerate each other. But he’s gotten much easier to be around now.” Weir acknowledges that Watney is a version of himself, or at least the self he wants to be. “His personality is pretty much based on my own real-world personality, but he’s the idealized version of me,” says Weir. “He has all the qualities that I like about myself and none of the things I don’t like about myself. He’s kind of the person I wish I were.” “I think that’s a general theme in fiction,” Weir adds. “Every main character is someone the author wants to be, or someone the author wants to screw. For the record, I want to be Watney.” It’s been quite a whirlwind for Weir, with interest from publishers and studios all surfacing within the past couple of years. But initially, it all sounded just too good to be true, he says. “At first, all these things were just phone calls and emails, not meetings or anything like that,” Weir says. “In the back of my mind, all I could think was, ‘Is this a scam? Is it just like a bunch of people pretending to be Fox and Random House?’” Weir, who now lives in Mountain View, was not about to give up his day job and longtime, successful career as a computer programmer without being sure. “I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for them to say ‘Oh, we just need 10,000 bucks for … whatever.’” Weir (left) went for a joyride on NASA’s Modular Robotic Vehicle during his visit in April. NASA/JAMES BLAIR AND LAUREN HARNETT “HE WAS A HANDFUL. HE WAS THE KID WHO WANTED TO CROSS THE STREET. HE WANTED TO KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE.” –JANET TUER, ANDY WEIR’S MOTHER
South Bay Accent - Oct/Nov 2015
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