OK, we've played amateur directors to cast the lead of a new movie version of Anna Karenina. Now comes the hard part: Vronsky.

Why so hard, you ask? Hollywood must be brimming with young men who could fill the role of the dashing young army officer and Don Juan.

Maybe it's just me (as I've said, I don’t get out to see many movies that are not G-rated) but I don’t see a lot of choices. Remember, my starting point for Anna, in the initial post on this subject, was that the actors had to be closer in age to the fictional characters Tolstoy created.

Vronsky, I'm thinking, was in his early 20s. Hollywood would typically cast a 30-something for the part. So we could just call Orlando Bloom's agent (the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End star turned 30 in January) and be done. (Pirates lead actor, Johnny Depp, turns an astonishing 44 soon, so he's out of the running.)

But, sorry folks, Orlando doesn’t work for me. I don't see him carrying off the infatuated, but callous and careless Vronsky. And at 30, he's just too old. That's about Anna's age, and Vronsky is supposed to be younger and captivated by her older woman mystique.

All three male leads of Spider-Man 3 are also out. Tobey Maguire is 35 and the way he handled the so-called black Spider-Man is all the proof I need that he can't do Vronsky. Topher Grace, who plays Eddie Brock, could be cold and cruel, but, at 29, he's pushing it for this role. I was leaning heavily to James Franco, a.k.a. Harry Osborn. He's got the looks and he does malice well, but he's also 29. Which is a shame since according to the Internet movie database IMDB.com, he's got some Russian blood.

So who do we have in the 20-something crowd? Let's start with Jake Gyllenhaal. At 27, he's maybe a tad old, but according to the Internet movie database IMDB.com, he can claim to be Swedish nobility. That should help with the Method acting preparation to play an aristocrat of 19th-century St. Petersburg.

Ryan Gosling is also 27 and he got an Oscar nomination last year. I hadn't been thinking of Vronsky as a blond, but I could be convinced. Elijah Wood is 26. The one-time child star has had a checkered career as an adult. Maybe it's time to give him a chance at a meatier role. Kieran Culkin, younger brother of Macaulay Culkin, has a melancholy look about him and he's almost 25. Not a big box office draw, but with the right Anna, it could work.

Or we could just wait for Daniel Radcliffe--you know, Harry Potter--to turn 20 in about 18 months.