I got my characters mixed up

Title: Leap Year
Genre: Horror/slasher

I have no idea how this happened, but I somehow got two characters in my script mixed up. I had intended for Jamie Lee to watch Margot and be her protector/"babysitter"/Sebastian the Crab type character. Somehow I must have inserted the wrong name and transferred this task to Heather.

Here's the full scene (still a WIP):

Quoted Text

EXT. POE'S WOODS - DAY

SUPER: Friday, February 29, 1980

A van drives into the woods.

VAN (DRIVING)

RUSS (early fifties) drives. He is a portly man with a Randy Quaid-like physique.

Accompanying him are MARGOT, JAMIE LEE, ADRIENNE, and HEATHER -- all 17.

Margot is Sheriff Jones's daughter. She's a quiet, smart, brains-over-beauty girl. She resembles Margot Kidder with a touch of Karen Allen and Jessica Harper.

Jamie Lee has shoulder-length light-brown hair.

Adrienne has shorter light-brown hair and is a smart-aleck.

Heather has curly black hair.

A sudden POP. The van quakes.

                  RUSS
               What the...?

Russ suddenly slows down and pulls over.

POE'S WOODS

Russ gets out and grumbles.

                   RUSS
          Son of a bitch.

Grumbling once more, he takes a look at the van. A flat.

He kicks the front left tire in frustration, letting out a long sigh. Then, he opens the driver door and speaks to Margot, seated on the passenger side.

                   RUSS
         We've got a problem, guys.

                    MARGOT
         What's wrong, Uncle Russ?

                    RUSS
            Flat.

                   MARGOT
            Don't you have a spare in the trunk?

                       RUSS
             That was the spare! The nearest pay
             phone's five miles back. Jamie Lee,
             keep an eye on the girls. Especially Margot.

                       ADRIENNE
              What's so special about Margot?

                        MARGOT
               I'm still five years old.

                        ADRIENNE
               That's not what your birthday
               cake said last week.

                       MARGOT
                Tell that to my asshole dad.

                       RUSS
                I wasn't talking to you, Adrienne.
                And Margot, no cursing. But I won't
                tell if you don't.

Heather smiles, extending her arm.

                      HEATHER
                  You can count on me.

She and Russ shake hands.

Russ closes the door and walks back, taking out his map. Jamie Lee gets out of the van and joins him.

Margot rolls down the window.

                         MARGOT
                 What the hell are you doing?

(Sheriff Ed Jones, by the way, is introduced in an earlier scene.)

And here's a later scene:

Quoted Text

EXT. POE'S WOODS - RUSS AND JAMIE LEE - DAY
Russ kicks the ground, causing a pile of snow to fly through the air.

                  RUSS
             Shit! I can't believe we've got a flat,
             in the middle of nowhere, no pay
             phone nearby...

Russ huffs.

Jamie Lee catches up with him.

               JAMIE LEE
           Uncle Russ! Uncle Russ!

               RUSS
         Jamie Lee? I told you to--

               JAMIE LEE
         If you get lost, what'll happen to us?

                RUSS
        You girls are seventeen! You can't fend
        for yourselves.

                JAMIE LEE
         Neither can you.

                 RUSS
                 (defeated)
         Fine. But when your Uncle Ed finds out
         about this, it'll be both our asses.

He and Jamie Lee walk around.

                    RUSS
          I wish somebody would invent
          portable phones. Wouldn't that
          be something? And make 'em
          cordless!

                   JAMIE LEE
        Number one, that's what pay phones
        are for. Number two, they'd be
        prohibitively expensive. And
        number three, they'd kill horror
        movies dead in their tracks.

Russ pauses, thinks.

Jamie Lee eyes him with a face that says "Here's an idea."

                JAMIE LEE
         ...Or you could just buy a C-B.

Russ takes a step back, his face reading "Why didn't I think of that?"

               RUSS
          Damn, you're right.

Russ takes out his map.

I added the "What the hell are you doing?" and "Uncle Russ!" parts to compensate for what I thought was the plot hole. Turns out I just swapped characters.

I just realized in another scene in between these two, I have Heather saying dialogue I had intended for Jamie Lee.

I really like the banter/chemistry as written and don't want to ruin it. Should I simply swap the names back? What would you do? Thanks in advance.

Print Topic