<P> Director Shankman wanted the lead characters to be portrayed by young actors: "I wanted young actors with whom teenagers could connect", he said . Shankman arranged a meeting with Shane West after he saw him in a magazine . He was looking for someone who could transition from being very dark to very light . He described his choice as "an instinct" he had about West, who would appear in almost every scene and had "to be either incredibly angry and self - hating or madly in love and heroic ." West said: "I don't generally read love stories, but after reading the screenplay, I knew I couldn't wait to read the book so I could truly understand Nicholas Sparks' story and how he envisioned the character of Landon . It's a beautiful story and the characters are very believable, which is what attracted me to the project . </P> <P> Shankman said of Moore that she "has the voice and the face of an angel" and added that she is luminous . Moore explained that she was moved by the book: "I had such a visceral reaction to it that I remember not being able to read because I was almost hyperventilating while I was crying ." Commenting on the film, she said: "It was my first movie and I know people say it may be cliche and it's a tearjerker or it's cheesy, but for me, it's the thing I'm most proud of ." </P> <P> While there are many similarities to the novel by Nicholas Sparks, many changes were made . On his personal website, Sparks explains the decisions behind the differences . For example, he and the producer decided to update the setting from the 1950s to the 1990s, worrying that a film set in the 50s would fail to draw teens . "To interest them," he writes, "we had to make the story more contemporary ." To make the update believable, Landon's pranks and behavior are worse than they are in the novel; as Sparks notes, "the things that teen boys did in the 1950s to be considered a little' rough' are different than what teen boys in the 1990s do to be considered' rough ."' </P> <P> Sparks and the producer also changed the play in which Landon and Jamie appear . In the novel, Hegbert wrote a Christmas play that illustrated how he once struggled as a father . However, due to time constraints, the sub-plot showing how he overcame his struggles could not be included in the film . Sparks was concerned that "people who hadn't read the book would question whether Hegbert was a good father", adding that "because he is a good father and we didn't want that question to linger, we changed the play ." </P>

When does a walk to remember come on tv