One For The Money Star Daniel Sunjata Thinks Stephanie Plum Should Get With Ranger

Even though there’s obviously huge pressure on Katherine Heigl to embody Janet Evanovich‘s screwball bounty hunter Stephanie Plum in the new comedy One for the Money, I’d say the fans are scrutinizing the men of the movie just as much. Because long before we wondered who Bella or Katniss would choose, the best love triangle in modern literature was Morelli/Stephanie/Ranger.

Let me assuage your fears now and say that Daniel Sunjata and Jason O’Mara are pitch-perfect as (respectively) Ranger and Morelli. I’m a pretty bit stickler with adaptations, but I was charmed by how well they fit their characters: The cool-headed, black-clad bounty hunter who lets slip little mocking asides of Steph, and the guy who would be her fantasy if they both weren’t so flawed. That’s what made talking to the actors an extra treat.

Daniel is the kind of actor you’ve seen popping up in random films in the past few years: He was Jennifer Garner‘s suitor in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and fashion designer James Holt in The Devil Wears Prada. But if Sony Pictures decides to make more Stephanie Plum movies (please do!), it’ll go a long way toward making Daniel a lot more recognizable. Ranger the character is, after all, a brand all his own.

I had to ask if the filmmakers had given him any extra insight on Ranger, stuff that the fans might not be privy to. “They did give me a little bit of backstory to help me stitch together my character,” he said, “but not a ton, and I don’t think that was necessarily a bad thing. One of the things that makes [Ranger] attractive is how mysterious he is. So the fact that there’s not a lot known about him in the first book and movie adds to the allure of him, that he seems to appear out of nowhere and saves the day.”

I have to admit, I felt a little silly asking Daniel which guy he thought Stephanie should be with — 18 books in, there’s still no clear answer — but he laughed and totally went along with it. “I know that girls like the bad boy in theory,” he said with respect to his co-star Jason O’Mara, “but in reality, you want the guy who’s going to really be there when you need him to… Women like a guy who’s mysterious and dependable when they need him. I’m biased, but I’m going with Team Ranger. If she’s looking for a future, she should choose [him].”

One for the Money comes out this Friday, January 27.