Alicia Vikander Lands Female Lead in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” Opposite Armie Hammer

May 8, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

alicia-vikander Fast rising Swedish actress Alicia Vikander has landed another high profile role, this time the female lead in Guy Ritchie’s reboot of spy comedy “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” starring Tom Cruise and Armie Hammer.

This is the 1960s buddy cop comedy style spy series that Warner Bros has been trying to put together for the big screen for some time, with previous iterations featuring Soderbergh behind the camera, Clooney in front, etc. Cruise is taking the Napoleon Solo role, with Hammer in line for his sidekick Illya Kuryakin. The two work for United Network Command for Law Enforcement (or U.N.C.L.E.) and use their charm, wit and advanced spy technology on missions. Vikander is taking the role a British agent with U.N.C.L.E. who “has a thing for cars.” She will be an original character who did not appear in the original TV series. And if she has to be someone’s love interest, we are just praying it’ll be Hammer.

One of our Breakout Stars of 2012, Vikander arrived on the scene in Hollywood thanks to the on-two punch of Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina” and Danish Best Foreign Language Oscar nominee “A Royal Affair”, and has been landing increasingly impressive stateside jobs ever since. She’s wrapped Bill Condon’s Wikileaks drama “The Fifth Estate” and crime thriller “Son of a Gun” opposite Ewan McGregor, and will next be seen in sorcery actioner “The Seventh Son” with Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Alicia Vikander Reuniting with “Anna Karenina” Co-Star Domhnall Gleeson for “Ex Machina”

May 3, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Alicia Vikander has landed and is now in negotiations for the female lead role in screenwriter Alex Garland’s directorial debut “Ex-Machina”, according to The Wrap. Vikander had been up for the role against British actress Felicity Jones, but emerged victorious and will reunite with “Anna Karenina” co-star Domhnall Gleeson, who stars opposite Oscar Isaac.

Isaac stars in the futuristic thriller as a billionaire who hires a young employee (Gleeson) to “spend a week at his remote estate and participate in a test involving his latest invention – an artificially intelligent female robot.” With a lovely young lady like Ms. Vikander playing the robot, we’re betting human-like feelings start forming here. At least we know Vikander and Gleeson have plenty of romantic chemistry.

The two played would-be lovers Kitty and Levin in Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina”, which helped make Vikander one of our Breakout Stars of 2012. The one-two punch of “Anna” and Danish Oscar entry “A Royal Affair” provided Vikander with quite the introduction to Hollywood, and she’s booked more and more intriguing projects ever since. She’s already wrapped on Bill Condon’s Wikileaks film “The Fifth Estate” with Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Bruhl as well as Australian thriller “Son of a Gun” opposite Ewan McGregor.

Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson in talks to join indie robot pic “Ex Machina”

April 8, 2013 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 1 Comment

exmachina Oscar Isaac has a busy 2013 ahead of him! His first lead film “Inside Llewyn Davis” is rumoured to bow at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and now the rising actor is in negotiations, along with former “Harry Potter” star Domhnall Gleeson to join a new indie pic, “Ex Machina“.

The film, scripted by Alex Garland who will also make his directorial debut with the pic, follows “a billionaire programmer who handpicks a young employee to spend a week at his remote estate and participate in a test involving his latest invention – an artificially intelligent female robot.”

The Wrap report that Isaac will play billionaire programmer and Gleeson the employee, and that Felicity Jones and Alicia Vikander are two of several up and coming actresses being considered for the female lead, presumably of the artificially intelligent robot.

One of our Faces to Watch in 2013, Isaac recently joined “Partisan“, will co-star with Jason Clarke in psychological thriller “Mojave”, and play Max Minghella’s brother in “Memorial Day”. Hossein Amini’s thriller “The Two Faces of January” with Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst, and the period pic “Therese” with Elizabeth Olsen are also both set to be released this year.

Gleeson played Bill Weasley in the final two-parter “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” and recently earned raves for his role as Levin opposite Vikander’s Kitty in Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina.” Most recently he wrapped up shooting on musical comedy “Frank” opposite Michael Fassbender.

UPDATED: Emma Watson Will NOT Star as Disney’s “Cinderella”

February 28, 2013 | Posted by Araceli Roach in Casting 2 Comments

Emma Watson MARCH 11TH UPDATE: Watson has decided to pass on playing Cinderella for Disney. The search continues.

ORIGINAL POST: “Harry Potter” may have made Emma Watson a household name, but the young star’s next potential role is poised to continue that trend. Variety reports Watson is in early talks to play the lead in Disney’s live-action adaptation of “Cinderella”, to be directed by Kenneth Branagh from a script by Chris Weitz.

Curiouser and curiouser, this film is just the latest in a line of recent live-action fairytales, including “Alice in Wonderland,” “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” and next year’s “Maleficent”. Disney apparently considered other actresses for the iconic character, such as favorites Alicia Vikander (“Anna Karenina”), Imogen Poots (“Need for Speed”) and Gabriella Wilde (“The Three Musketeers”), but ultimately decided Watson was their best choice to fill the glass slipper. Cate Blanchett has already been cast as the evil stepmother. “Cinderella” is scheduled to begin production this fall for a 2014 release.

Watson has had no problem moving on from her breakout role as Hermione Granger. She recently received rave reviews for “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and will next star in Seth Rogen’s “This Is the End,” Sofia Coppola’s “The Bling Ring” and Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah”.

Alicia Vikander and Brenton Thwaites join Ewan McGregor in Aussie thriller “Son of a Gun”

February 5, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

International rising stars Alicia Vikander and Brenton Thwaites are heading Down Under for thriller “Son of a Gun”, which already stars Ewan McGregor, according to Deadline.

Julius Avery begins directing the film later this month in Australia, which is described as “a visceral, tautly paced heist thriller, centers on a complex relationship between Australia’s public enemy No. 1 (McGregor) and his young protégé (Thwaites).” Polish actor Jacek Koman has also joined the cast in an unspecified role.

Vikander will hop on board the shoot after she finishes filming Bill Condon’s Wikileaks film “The Fifth Estate” opposite Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Bruhl, which is now in production in Germany. The Swedish actress broke out big in 2012 thanks to the one-two punch of Danish Foreign Language Oscar nominee “A Royal Affair” and Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina”, in which she played a scene-stealing Kitty. This year she’ll also be seen in sorcery epic “The Seventh Son”, starring opposite Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Thwaites, who frequently shows up on various shortlists for upcoming high profile projects, was most recently was seen in Lifetime’s remake “Blue Lagoon: The Awakening”, will next be seen opposite Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty redo “Maleficent” as well as indie horror “Oculus” opposite “Doctor Who” star Karen Gillan.

Anthony Mackie joins Bill Condon’s Wikileaks movie, now titled “The Fifth Estate”; first image released

January 22, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting, Images 2 Comments

UPDATED: The first official image from the film has been added.

Well this movie just keeps getting better and better. In a press release today announcing the start of principal photography on “The Fifth Estate”, the previously untitled Wikileaks movie directed by Bill Condon, it’s revealed that Anthony Mackie has joined the cast that already boasts Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Bruhl and Alicia Vikander.

Cumberbatch will play Julian Assange and Bruhl his one-time right hand man, Daniel Domscheit-Berg. The Dreamworks film is taking its source material from Domscheit-Berg’s “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website” and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy” by David Leigh and Luke Harding, British journalists who worked at The Guardian and helped Assanage publish his first findings. Vikander will play a co-worker and eventual love interest to Bruhl’s charcter, while “Downton Abbey” star Dan Stevens will play a hacker friend of Domscheit-Berg’s who eventually comes to work with the Wikileaks team. There’s no word on who other cast members including Mackie, Laura Linney, David Thewlis, Peter Capaldi, and Carice van Houten will play. “The Fifth Estate” has also just been set for a November 15, 2013 release.

Mackie will film this first before heading to Cleveland in April to play the Falcon opposite Chris Evans, who reprises his role as Steve Rogers in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” The two also recently wrapped up filming on “A Many Splintered Thing” together. Mackie is currently on screen in “Gangster Squad” opposite Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone and will next be seen opposite Mark Wahlberg in Michael Bay’s “Pain & Gain.”

Meanwhile, the first official image featuring Cumberbatch and Bruhl has been released and can be viewed below.

BAFTA EE Rising Star Award nominees include Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Olsen and “Life of Pi” star Suraj Sharma

January 7, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Awards Leave a comment

After a rather embarrassing display last year with an all-male final five, BAFTA has taken the job of nominating their 2013 EE Rising Star Award out of the hands of the public. Instead, a committee made up of film committee deputy chairman Pippa Harris, director Kevin Macdonald, actor Benedict Cumberbatch and film critic Mark Kermode put together a much more inclusive and reasonable list this time around. Only now, with worthy nominees Elizabeth Olsen, Alicia Vikander, Suraj Sharma, Juno Temple and Andrea Riseborough in place, will the public get to vote for the eventual winner.

Up and Comers Presents: The Breakout Stars of 2012

December 27, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis and Linda Ge in Features 9 Comments

Another year, another new crop of fresh talent. Just like last year, the hardest part is narrowing down which of the dozens of the year’s rising stars shone the brightest. This year we heralded the arrival of the unlikeliest of movie stars, actors we’ve been familiar with for a while finally hitting their stride, a couple of international imports and some serious emerging acting talent guaranteed to turn out great work for years to come. As always, we’ve had to leave off some of our – and your! – favorites, but we are proud to present below our Top 10 Breakout Stars of 2012.

Breakout Stars: The Guys | Breakout Stars: The Girls

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“Downton Abbey” star Dan Stevens joins Bill Condon’s Wikileaks film opposite Benedict Cumberbatch

December 19, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Team Wikileaks adds another member as Variety reports “Downton Abbey” star Dan Stevens is the latest cast member to join Bill Condon’s untitled film about the founding of the whistleblower website and its controversial leader, Julian Assange. British rising star Benedict Cumberbatch is on board to play Assange, with German actor Daniel Bruhl as Assange’s onetime right-hand man Daniel Domscheit-Berg and Alicia Vikander as a co-worker and love interest to Bruhl’s character.

The Dreamworks film is taking its source material from Domscheit-Berg’s “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website” and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy” by David Leigh and Luke Harding, British journalists who worked at The Guardian and helped Assanage publish his first findings. Stevens will play a hacker friend of Domscheit-Berg’s who eventually comes to work with the Wikileaks team. Filming is scheduled to begin in January.

Stevens, who plays the key role of Matthew Crawley on hit series “Downton Abbey”, is currently starring opposite Jessica Chastain on Broadway in “The Heiress”. He has declined to return to the show that has made him a star in its fourth season, and will be seen next year on the big screen in period romantic drama “Summer in February” opposite Emily Browning and Dominic Cooper.

Alicia Vikander joins Bill Condon’s Wikileaks film opposite Benedict Cumberbatch

December 14, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

Bill Condon continues to build an impressive cast for his still untitled film about the founding of Wikileaks and its controversial leader, Julian Assange. With British actor Benedict Cumberbatch set as Assange and German actor Daniel Bruhl as his right-hand man Daniel Domscheit-Berg, Variety now reports Swedish rising star Alicia Vikander has joined the cast as well.

The Dreamworks film is taking its source material from Domscheit-Berg’s “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website” and “WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy” by David Leigh and Luke Harding, British journalists who worked at The Guardian and helped Assanage publish his first findings. Vikander will play a co-worker and eventual love interest of Domscheit-Berg’s. Production is aiming for a January start.

Vikander first caught our attention back in 2010 when she was shortlisted for “Snow White and the Huntsman”, and has since proven on screen what filmmakers initially saw in the unknown actress. This year she puts in two awards-worthy performances, in Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina” and the Danish Foreign-Language Oscar entry “A Royal Affair” and she’ll get her first crack at studio fare when she stars opposite Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore in next year’s “The Seventh Son.” She also may get a chance to play a fairy tale princess after all as she is one of three contenders Mark Romanek is considering to be his “Cinderella.”

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