Is Angelina Jolie too young to play Dr. Kay Scarpetta?

Image Credit: LandovLast year, when Fox announced Angelina Jolie would star in a movie inspired by Patricia Cornwell’s best-selling Dr. Kay Scarpetta series, we suspected there would be some changes. Though Jolie certainly seemed a good fit for Cornwell’s sophisticated medical examiner, there was one major difference between the two: Scarpetta has reached middle age, whereas Jolie is still a ripe, young 34. (And then, of course, there is the fact that Scarpetta is blonde — but we’ve seen Jolie go bleach before.)

And it turns out we were right: In an interview with the L.A. Times, Cornwell spoke about the project — which could begin shooting this fall — and how it would be altered to tailor its star. For one, Fox has planned an origin story set in the present day. (Cornwell’s first novel in the series, Postmortem, is set in the late 1980s.) And, naturally, the film will highlight a younger Scarpetta, before she’s grown into her own as a medical examiner.

Some Scarpetta purists have already begun to protest the move — and the casting of Jolie. (For the record, Cornwell is okay with the change, telling the L.A. Times: “I can understand why the studio doesn’t want to launch her as someone’s who’s my age.”) But is it really vital for an actor to perfectly resemble the popular literary character they’re bringing to screen? (Remember the message board hullabaloo surrounding Rob Pattinson being cast as Twilight‘s Edward?)

What do you think, PopWatchers and Kay Scarpetta fans? Does a young Scarpetta bother you? Or are you pumped to see Jolie as the star of another franchise?