Over the years you may have seen actors being cast to play the role of a character from a fiction or non-fiction novel for a film or TV series, but have you come across an actor that has been asked to portray a book character as a real person, with a complete set of social media accounts?

One among the world's best-selling authors, James Patterson, recently cast actor Cory Tucker in the lead role of Detective Caleb Rooney in his new fictional thriller 'The Chef.' Cory is best known for his work with Michael Bay in 'Pearl Harbor' and playing "Buzz Aldrin" in 'Transformers 3- Dark Side of the Moon'. His most notable television work includes guest star appearances in 'NCIS', 'The Orville', 'Bones' and 'True Blood'.

Playing the role of Detective Caleb Rooney on 'The Chef', Tucker has been showcased in photos and videos, bringing the book to life in app-based storytelling for the revolutionary online marketing campaign before the release of the hard copy book on February 18, 2019. You will see him play "police detective by day, celebrity food truck chef by night." 

What makes 'The Chef' stand out compared to other novels is that it offers a first of its kind, multimedia interactive-fiction experience, available exclusively on Facebook Messenger, thus blurring the lines of fiction and reality. In an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), Tucker talks about how it feels to be seen online as James Patterson's newest protagonist for 'The Chef', what made him take on the role of Detective Caleb Rooney and a project that excites him. 

It is not often that you meet someone who is the protagonist of a book and Tucker is a grateful man. "It’s an honor. James Patterson is a legend. I know a lot of people were up for the role, so I am grateful," he said. Talking about his first reaction when he heard that he will be playing the role of a protagonist not on screen but for a book, Tucker revealed, "To be quite honest, I turned it down at first. My agent sent the audition information and I had no idea what it was. I told him I didn’t think I was interested. Then he said it was Facebook, James Patterson, and a first of its kind Interactive thriller. That was all it took." 

Revealing what drew him to take on the role of Caleb Rooney, Tucker said, "Although the sides (audition material) were quite different, I really liked the story. I love the genre and playing a detective is right up my alley." Tucker's character has his own Instagram handle, so we asked him if he handles his own account and how the reader response has been. He said, "I don’t handle the account. That is a Facebook thing. James Patterson has 3.5M followers on Facebook. I think it went well." 

Apart from playing the role of Detective 'Caleb Rooney' on 'Chef', Tucker also has a new forthcoming project called 'The Oath. Talking more about it, Tucker said, "The Oath is a personal project.  I wrote it and will act and direct it. We are going to shoot a short and see what kind of response we get. If it is what I think it will be, then we write and shoot the feature. It will be my first time creating my own content. Very exciting!" 

Here's the official synopsis of the book Tucker is starring in:

"Police detective by day, celebrity food truck chef by night, now Caleb Rooney has a new title: Most Wanted. In the Carnival days leading up Mardi Gras, Detective Caleb Rooney comes under investigation for a murder he is accused of committing in the line of duty--as a Major Crimes detective for the New Orleans Police Department. Has his sideline at the Killer Chef food truck given him a taste for murder? While fighting the charges against him, Rooney makes a pair of unthinkable discoveries. His beloved city is under threat of attack. And these would-be terrorists may be local."