Ansel Elgort Is Augustus Waters in "The Fault in Our Stars" Opposite Shailene Woodley

From siblings to star-crossed lovers! EW reports rising star Ansel Elgort has been offered the male lead in "The Fault in Our Stars" opposite Shailene Woodley - who plays his sister in the currently-filming dystopian adaptation "Divergent." The two Read more

Dylan O'Brien Lands "The Maze Runner" Lead; Ki Hong Lee Also Joins

UPDATE: Director Wes Ball tweets that Ki Hong Lee has also joined the cast as Minho, a fellow Glader and ally to Thomas throughout the series. Lee is probably best known as a regular on short-lived ABC Family Read more

Shailene Woodley Confirmed for "The Fault in Our Stars"

I mean, duh, we called it. It has now been officially confirmed with glowing quotes from director, producer and author in tow that the increasingly in demand Shailene Woodley will play the lead role of Hazel Grace Lancaster Read more

Up and Comers Presents: 20 Faces to Watch in 2013

After a somewhat unpredictable year in which the stars we expected to break out largely didn't but fresh faces came out of nowhere to surprise us all, we are ready to look ahead to the new talent waiting to Read more

Up and Comers Presents: The Breakout Stars of 2012

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 Read more
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chiwetel ejiofor

Amanda Seyfried and Chris Pine Join Sci-Fi Adaptation “Z for Zachariah”

May 15, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

amanda-seyfried Chris Pine, Amanda Seyfried, and Chiwetel Ejiofor have signed on to star in the adaptation of sci-fi young adult novel “Z for Zachariah”, according to Deadline.

Craig Zobel directs the film following 16 year old Ann (Seyfried) who thinks she’s the last person on earth after a nuclear holocaust, living on a farm in the only valley with breathable oxygen left in the region. Her world is turned upside down when a campfire alerts her to the presence of two men who have also seemingly survived. An August start on the adaptation of the Robert O’Brien novel is scheduled.

Pine opens in sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness” tomorrow, reprising his role as Cpatain Kirk, and also has Kenneth Branagh’s “Jack Ryan” reboot in the can awaiting release. He just landed his first musical, as one of the Princes in Rob Marshall’s twisted fairy tale “Into the Woods.” Seyfried is also musically inclined, most recently seen as Cosette in Tom Hooper’s “Les Miserables.” She’s currently filming Seth MacFarlane’s “A Million Ways to Die in the West.”

Paul Dano, Scoot McNairy and Ruth Negga join “Twelve Years a Slave”

May 22, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Rising stars Paul Dano, Scoot McNairy and Ruth Negga have joined Steve McQueen’s “Shame” follow-up, “Twelve Years a Slave”, according to Variety and Deadline. The three actors join Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and “Pariah” breakout star Odepero Aduye in the cast.

The film is based on the memoirs of Soloman Northup, to be played by Ejiofor, a free-born son of a former slave who is lured to Washington DC where he was illegally sold into slavery (with McNairy in the role of a circus worker who masterminds his abduction) and shipped to work on a plantation in New Orleans. When Northup is finally able to get a letter to his wife and family, they seek legal counsel to help free him. Dano and Fassbender will play plantation owners and Pitt will be the family’s lawyer. Negga will play a runaway slave, while Oduye is rumored to play Northup’s wife. Filming will begin at the end of June.

Indie scene staple Dano recently showed up on shortlists for big tentpole projects including “Akira” and “Die Hard 5″, but will next be seen sticking closer to his comfort zone in quirky rom com “Ruby Sparks”, from the directors of “Little Miss Sunshine.” He broke out in low budget horror “Monsters”, and now McNairy reteams with Pitt on “Twelve Years” after starring opposite one another at the current Cannes title “Killing Them Softly.” Irish actress Negga can currently be seen opposite Samuel L. Jackson in “The Samaritan.”

Adepero Oduye joins Steve McQueen’s “Twelve Years A Slave” alongside Fassbender, Ejiofor and Brad Pitt

April 17, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting Leave a comment

Adepero Oduye, star of last year’s indie hit “Pariah” is set to join a star-studded cast in Steve McQueen‘s next pic “Twelve Years A Slave”.

With Michael Fassbender – who’s clearly a big McQueen fan having worked with the director on two critically-acclaimed hits (“Hunger” and “Shame”) – already on board as well as Hollywood heavyweight Brad Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oduye will take on the female lead, rumoured to be Ejiofor’s wife.

The film is based on the true story of Soloman Northup, to be played by Ejiofor, a free-born son of a former slave who is lured to Washington DC where he was illegally sold into slavery and shipped to work for William Ford in New Orleans. When Northup is finally able to get a letter to his wife and family, they seek legal counsel to help free him. Oduye will presumably play his wife, while Fassbender will play a plantation owner and Brad Pitt will be the family’s lawyer.

It’s been a busy past year for Oduye, whose name could be found on any number of “next generation” type lists last year including Sundance Film Festival’s Fresh Faces to Watch; THR’s Next Generation Class of 2011 and Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue. She was also nominated for her first Indie Spirit award for her leading role in “Pariah”, Dee Rees’ tale of a Brooklyn teenager juggling conflicting identities and risking friendships and family in her search for sexual expression.

Michael Fassbender reunites once again with director Steve McQueen for “Twelve Years A Slave”

October 11, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Scorsese/DiCaprio, Refn/Gosling and now McQueen/Fassbender. Michael Fassbender, who is perhaps the buzziest actor right now as we head into awards season, is set to reunite with director Steve McQueen for a third time, following 2008′s “Hunger” and this year’s “Shame”, the source of all of Fassbender’s awards buzz. Variety reports the actor/director duo are teaming up on “Twelve Years a Slave”, based on the true autobiographical account of Solomon Northrup set in 19th Century America. The film also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Ejiofor woud presumably play Northrup, a free-born son of a former slave who lived as a farmer in New York in the 1800s. Two men lure Northrup to Washington DC with the promise of paying him to play his violin in a traveling circus, but instead he was drugged, illegally sold into slavery and shipped to work for William Ford in New Orleans. When he is finally able to get a letter to his wife and family, they seek legal counsel to help free him. He recounted, in great detail with exact dates and locations, his 12 years as a slave in “Twelve Years a Slave.” It’s unclear who Fassbender might play, though Canadian carpenter Samuel Bass, who aided Northrup in getting that crucial letter to his family, may be a logical choice.

Fassbender has been winning rave after rave for his performance in McQueen’s “Shame” as a thirty-something sex addict whose carefully compartmentalized life begins to spiral out of control when his mess of a younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment. It’s only one of two festival-circuit films that have people talking, as he is also said to be fantastic in David Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method”, in which he plays Carl Jung opposite Viggo Mortensen’s Sigmund Freud. A terrific end to a year that also saw a strong turn as Mr. Rochester in Cary Fukunaga’s new adaptation of “Jane Eyre” opposite Mia Wasikowska and as iconic comic book villain Magneto in this summer’s “X-Men: First Class.” He’s currently wrapping up Ridley Scott’s semi-”Alien”-prequel “Prometheus.”