“Pretty Little Liars” Ashley Benson joins Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens in “Spring Breakers”

January 30, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

In what is shaping up to be the ultimate Tween Idols Go Bad movie, the Disney filled cast of “Spring Breakers” – which already includes Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens – is gaining a little ABC Family starpower. Deadline reports “Pretty Little Liars” star Ashley Benson has joined the cast, replacing Emma Roberts, who dropped out a couple of weeks ago.

Harmony Korine directs the film about four college-aged girls who rob a fast food restaurant in order to afford a Spring Break trip. When they’re arrested, they cross paths with a drug dealer (played by James Franco) who enlists their help in killing his rival. With Hudgens, Gomez and Benson set for three of the roles and filming set to begin in just a few weeks on February 12, the hunt is now on for the final girl. All we can say is, run Shailene Woodley, run!

Benson, who stars as Hanna on ABC Family’s hit series “Pretty Little Liars”, got her big break in soaps through playing Abby on “Days of Our Lives” for three years. She starred in one of the direct-to-video “Bring it On” sequels and has done various TV movies including “Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleading Scandal” and “Christmas Cupid.” Though she’s been acting for nearly 10 years, “Spring Breakers” will be her first major role in a big screen feature film.

Tom Hiddleston replaces Michael Fassbender in Jim Jarmusch’s vampire flick “Only Lovers Left Alive”

January 30, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Those who had been looking forward to a “Jane Eyre” reunion will have to wait a little while longer. While Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska had been set to co-star once again in Jim Jarmusch’s new vampire movie, THR reports that British rising star Tom Hiddleston will be replacing Fassbender in the film, now titled “Only Lovers Left Alive.”

Tilda Swinton, announced along with Wasikowska and Fassbender back in May, remains a part of the project, and veteran actor John Hurt is now on board as well for the “horror drama”, about two vampires who have been in love for centuries. Filming is set to begin in Germany later this year. Fassbender’s departure is perhaps unsurprising given his increasingly in demand profile in Hollywood, especially following an incredible year of films in 2011. Still, count me in as one who had been hoping for a Wasikowska-Fassbender reunion, and who’s a little disappointed by this news.

On the other hand, Hiddleston, one of our Breakout Stars of 2011 alongside Fassbender, had a pretty amazing 2011 himself and is an incredible talent in his own right. From “Thor”‘s Loki to “Midnight in Paris”‘s F. Scott Fitzgerald and “War Horse”‘s Captain Nicholls, Hiddleston has demonstrated the same sort of versatility and magnetism that Fassbender possesses. He just wrapped up reprising Loki in Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers”, is a nominee for BAFTA’s Orange Rising Star Award, and is vying for the male lead in Akiva Goldsman’s sci-fi epic “Winter’s Tale.”

Blake Lively out, Rooney Mara in for Steven Soderbergh’s “Side Effects”

January 30, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 1 Comment

It’s been nearly a week since Rooney Mara was announced as a Best Actress nominee for this year’s 84th Academy Awards, and now we have her first confirmed lead role since her turn as Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” garnered her that elusive nomination.

Deadline reports that Mara has been cast in Steven Sodebergh’s “Side Effects” (formerly “The Bitter Pill”, “The Side Effects”), a psychological thriller that will also co-star Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Back in early January, reports were that Blake Lively had been cast in the female lead, as Emily Hawkins, a young woman who turns to prescription medication to cope with anxiety regarding her husband’s (Tatum) upcoming prison release. For reasons unknown (though rumors persist that financiers were unhappy with the casting), Lively has been dropped from the cast, or perhaps was never officially onboard, allowing Mara to jump on.

Deadline’s report has further plot information (perhaps even somewhat spoilery?) “[Hawkins] husband has been in prison for three years and after taking a new medicine she was prescribed, she unknowingly murders her husband and stands trial for murder.”

Filming is set to begin in April, with a script from Scott Z. Burns. Mara will follow up Soderbergh’s film with a role in Terrence Malick’s “Lawless” opposite Ryan Gosling in September.

EXCLUSIVE: Newcomer George Blagden joins Tom Hooper’s “Les Miserables” as Grantaire

January 29, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Casting is quickly firming up on Tom Hooper’s adaptation of international blockbuster musical “Les Miserables”, but while some of the major roles are still being negotiated, a strong supporting character has been finalized. Little known stage and screen actor George Blagden has been cast as student revolutionary Grantaire, the actor’s reps confirmed to us today. Blagden will share the screen with the likes of Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried.

Blagden will share most of his screentime with Eddie Redmayne and Aaron Tveit, whose Marius and Enjolras are close friends and fellow revolutionaries alongside Grantaire, who Jackman’s Jean Valjean encounters in the second act of the story. It was also revealed recently that “Les Mis” original London cast members Colm Wilkinson (Valjean) and Frances Ruffelle (Eponine) will have small roles in the film. Wilkinson will play a Bishop Valjean meets in the beginning of his journey who sets him on the right path with his kindness, and Ruffelle will play a “fabulous whore” during one of Fantine’s ensemble musical numbers, “Lovely Ladies.” Meanwhile, Taylor Swift, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter still remain in negotiations for the roles of Eponine, Thenardier and Mme Thenardier, respectively. Those deals better come together fast, with rehearsals beginning this week and filming set for March, all towards a release date of December 7, 2012.

Blagden is a neophyte to the big screen, with his first credits set for release this year, in “Clash of the Titans” sequel “Wrath of the Titans” with Sam Worthington and Liam Neeson, and indie “The Philosophers”, starring some of the hottest rising talent including Rhys Wakefield, Sophie Lowe, “Harry Potter”‘s Bonnie Wright and “W.E.”‘s James D’Arcy. “Les Miserabls” should be a nice breakout for Blagden, a tenor who has also appeared on stage in “Kiss Me Kate”, “The Blue Room” and more.

Derick Martini reunites with Emma Roberts for “I Am My Family Secret”; Craig Roberts also on board

January 24, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

American actress Emma Roberts and British thesp Craig Roberts (no relation) are teaming up to co-star in indie drama “I Am My Family Secret”, according to Deadline. The film reunites Emma Roberts with director Derick Martini, who made his directorial debut on the Roberts-starrer “Lymelife” back in 2008.

The film, sure to be dark and gritty like Martini’s previous projects, follows two wildly different brothers who discover that their parents have kept a life-altering secret from them for over twenty years. Presumably Craig will be one of the brothers, and there’s no word on who Emma will play (a secret sister? A secret sister one of the brothers begins dating? Is she her family secret? The possibilities are endless). Martini’s “Lymelife” follow-up, “Hick”, has received critical reviews, but by all accounts he did his best work with Emma as his leading lady, and the same could be said for her acting as well, so this is certainly one to look forward to.

Both young thesps are currently represented at the Sundance Film Festival, Emma Roberts in comedy “Celeste and Jesse Forever”, which sold to Sony Pictures Classics, and Craig Roberts in “The First Time”, the Jonathan Kasden coming-of-age dramedy that’s also been very well received, with one sitecalling it “‘Can’t Hardly Wait’ Meets John Hughes” (in a good way). Emma, niece of Julia and son of Eric, broke out on her own when she starred in Nickelodeon series “Unfabulous”, then made a pretty successful transition to film with roles in “Scream 4″ and “The Art of Getting By.” Craig broke out in British indie coming-of-age tale “Submarine” and is also in Sundance flick “Red Lights” from “Buried” director Rodrigo Cortes.

Selena Gomez options teen novel “The Sky is Everywhere” as starring vehicle

January 23, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Looks like Disney star Selena Gomez is taking creative control of her career. The young “Wizards of Waverly Place” star is looking to add Producer to her resume, optioning teen novel “The Sky is Everywhere” with her production company as a starring vehicle for herself. Deadline reported the news today.

Gomez will star as 17-year-old Lennie Walker, a clarinet-playing band geek who has always stood firmly in the shadow of her popular older sister Bailey. When Bailey suddenly dies, Lennie finds herself thrust into the spotlight and caught between two boys, her sister’s boyfriend Toby, who understands her own grief, and Joe, a fellow musician and recent transplant from Paris (oh, how dreamy).

Gomez traveled the Miley Cyrus road to success via her own Disney Channel television series “Wizards of Waverly Place”, which has led to a music recording career as well as a fashion line and other tween-friendly franchises, but she has impressed on the big screen as well. Youth-driven comedies like “Ramona and Beezus” and “Monte Carlo” proved Gomez to be a charming and likeable presence on the big screen, and she’ll try her hand at darker fare next, lining up roles in Harmony Korine‘s “Spring Breakers” and comedy “Hot Mess.” Universal also acquired another teen novel for her to star in, “Thirteen Reasons Why”, but thus far there has been no movement on that front; perhaps a catalyst for Gomez to take charge and option the projects she wants with her own production company, a move that’s fast becoming popular with actors seeking more control over the projects they star in.

“Filly Brown” team sets Jake Hoffman and Nikki Reed for psychological thriller follow-up “Snap”

January 23, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Cima Productions, currently basking in the glow of rave reviews at Sundance for their directorial debut “Filly Brown”, have announced their next project, a psychological thriller to star young thesps Jake Hoffman and Nikki Reed. Deadline reported the news earlier today.

“Filly Brown” helmer Youssef Delara will co-direct with producer Victor Teran, who also wrote the script. Set in the underground dubstep scene, the film follows Hoffman as a brilliant but introverted musician who falls for Reed’s young social worker. A romance blossoms then quickly withers, with “shocking and tragic results.” “We’re extremely blessed that, after our amazing experience with Gina Rodriguez on Filly, we get to continue working with more brilliant young actors like Jake and Nikki,” Delara tells Deadline. Production is slated to begin on March26, with a return to Sundance in 2013 planned for the premiere.

Reed made a splash early when she co-wrote and starred in Catherine Hardwicke’s “Thirteen”, partly based on her own life, but got her biggest break yet when Hardwicke cast her as the vampire Rosalie in “Twilight.” She’ll wrap up that role in “Breaking Dawn Part II”, which releases this November. Hoffman played a younger version of Adam Sandler in “Click” and has appeared on TV shows like “Arrested Development” and “Californiacation.”

Miles Teller to “Get a Job”; Anna Kendrick, Jesse Eisenberg and more in the mix for other roles

January 21, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Miles Teller is certainly turning out to be one to watch on the comedy scene. Already a favorite with the gang behind “Old School” and “The Hangover”, he’s now circling the lead in another similarly zeitgeist-mirroring youthful comedy. Variety reports the up and coming actor is in negotiations to star in “Get a Job”, which “Rodger Dodger” helmer Dylan Kidd is looking to direct.

The film follows Teller and his friends, recent college graduates who find themselves having trouble landing their dream jobs in the recession. The studio, CBS Films, cautions that no official deals are in place yet and the project has not been greenlit, but production could get underway as early as February. Offers for other roles are out to Anna Kendrick and Bryan Cranston, while a handful of other young actors are circling roles as well, including Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Donald Glover of NBC’s “Community” fame, “Saturday Night Live”‘s Jay Pharaoh and “Rodger Dodger” star Jesse Eisenberg, though his role is presumed to be something of a cameo.

Teller, who broke out with a pivotal role in John Cameron Mitchell’s critically acclaimed “Rabbit Hole”, will star in a pair of frat-boy party-hard pics, first in “Project X”, the Todd Philipps produced found-footage high school party gone awry comedy releasing on March 2, and then in “21 and Over”, about three friends whose 21st birthday celebration gets a little too drunk and out of control, which marks the directorial debut of “The Hangover” scribes Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.

Boyd Holbrook and Chandler Canterbury join “The Host” opposite Saiorse Ronan

January 21, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Jake Abel and Saiorse Ronan, meet your siblings. Casting on Andrew Niccol’s “The Host” is firming up, and Variety reports model-slash-actor Boyd Holbrook has signed on to play the macho Kyle O’Shea, big brother to Abel’s Ian, while child actor Chandler Cantebury will play Jamie Stryder, little brother to Ronan’s Melanie.

“Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer traded in vampires for aliens in her first adult action novel about Melanie Stryder, a human who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where humans still technically exist and walk around, but with their brains controlled by alien “souls.” When Melanie is taken over by a soul named Wanderer, her will to survive is too strong to completely overcome and the two beings share her body and attempt to return to the small pocket of human resistance she belonged to before her capture. Max Irons is on board as Melanie’s boyfriend Jared, Diane Kruger recently joined the cast as The Seeker, an alien who pursues Melanie/Wanderer in the hopes of converting the last group of humans. William Hurt plays the leader of that group, operating out of an underground cave. Filming is set to begin at the end of the month in New Mexico, with a release date already set for March 29, 2013.

Holbrook, a former male model, has a still somewhat light resume in acting, recently seen in Vera Farmiga’s directorial debut “Higher Ground” and indie comedy “The Oranges”, as well as series like “The Big C” and “Hatfields & McCoys.” The 13-year-old Cantebury actually has more credits to his name, most notably “The Curios Case of Benjamin Button” and “Knowing”, along with at least three films in 2012, “The Goats”, “Plastic Jesus” and “Little Red Wagon.”

British stars Jamie Bell and Imogen Poots join the cast of Irvine Welsh’s “Filth”

January 21, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 1 Comment

The 90s adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s “Trainspotting” is one of my favourites films of all time, so I’m excited to see how Jon S. Baird takes on an adaptation of another Welsh classic, “Filth”, with rising British stars Jamie Bell and Imogen Poots joining the cast.

James McAvoy plays Bruce Robertson, a sex-obsessed, cocaine-addicted police officer, who, as he attempts to investigate a murder gets sidetracked by his own worries, manipulating “everyone in his path to secure a promotion and win back his wife and daughter.”

Filming is set to kick off very soon and Variety reports that Poots will be playing a colleague of Bruce’s, joining Jim Broadbent, Eddie Marsan and Joanne Froggatt in the film. Bell joined the cast late last summer, with Welsh telling The Playlist that “Jamie is going to be Lennox, [Bruce's] kind of sidekick”.

2012 looks set to be an interesting year for both British actors, with Poots taking on the lead role in “Greeting From Tim Buckley”, one of the three Jeff Buckley films currently in production. We’re also hoping to see the romantic heist film “Comes A Bright Day” sometime this year, also starring up and comer Craig Roberts. Bell remained slightly off-radar for a few years, but 2011 was a comeback for him, starring in the critically-acclaimed adaptation of “Jane Eyre”, attempting a diamond hesit in “Man On The Ledge” and taking on the titular role in the performance-capture 3D family film, “The Adventure of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn”. Bell recently joined Chris Evans in the post-apocalyptic thriller “Snow Piercer”.

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