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
•••••

jesse eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg reunites with director Noah Baumach for “While We’re Young”

May 31, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

The director who, arguably, discovered one of the brightest rising stars of today will get the chance to reunite with the now newly minted Oscar nominee, as 24 Frames reports Jesse Eisenberg is in early talks to star in his “The Squid and the Whale” director Noah Baumach’s new film, “While We’re Young”. Ben Stiller is already set to star in the film, and Naomi Watts is circling as well.

“While We’re Young” is a multi-generational relationship drama about a childless couple in their 30s/40s (Stiller and Watts) who begin to feel alienated from their circle of friends who are starting to procreate, and begin to form an unusual friendship with a younger couple. Eisenberg, who played the son of divorcing parents for Baumach in “Squid”, will now play one half of the younger couple. His love interest has not yet been cast. Eisenberg and Watts are replacing roles originally intended for James Franco and Cate Blanchett, who had been in talks but fell out in recent months.

Eisenberg has been in high demand ever since breaking out in a big way in David Fincher’s “The Social Network”, for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor this past February. He recently completed filming on indie dramedy “Free Samples” and will next star opposite Melissa Leo in “Predisposed”, before heading to Rome for Woody Allen’s next destination romantic comedy in the vein of his recent Cannes hit “Midnight in Paris”. Meanwhile, super producer Soctt Rudin, who produced “The Social Network” and will produce “While We’re Young”, is also fighting for Eisenberg to star in his next, “The Terrorist Search Engine”. He will next be seen opposite Aziz Ansari in comedy “30 Minutes Or Less”, which releases on August 12.

TV star Sarah Ramos joins Jesse Eisenberg in “Predisposed”

May 16, 2011 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting Leave a comment

Sarah Ramos, star of NBC’s “Parenthood” has signed on to star opposite Jesse Eisenberg in Phil Dorling’s indie drama Predisposed.

Following the story of the unhealthy releationship between “drug addict mother and her piano prodigy son (Eisenberg), as she prepares to enter rehab and he into Julliard”, this will be the first feature film for Ramos, who so far has only starred on the small screen.

She will be playing Eisenberg’s love interest alongside a great cast which also included Oscar winner Melissa Leo as Eisenberg’s mother, and Tracy Morgan as her drug dealer, Sprinkles.

In demand Jesse Eisenberg wanted for Oscar-winning producer’s counter-terrorism film

May 16, 2011 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 1 Comment

After garnering an Oscar nomination in last year’s hit film The Social Network, star Jesse Eisenberg found himself a household name.
And now producer Scott Rudin, whose other Oscar hits include 2006′s The Queen and 2007′s No Country for Old Men has shown his interest in casting 27 year old Eisenberg in a new film based on the controversial counter-terrorism expert witness Evan Kohlmann.

The Terrorist Search Engine, based on a book by Wesley Yang, “details how the downy-cheeked-but-web-savvy Kohlmann … has helped convict 23 defendants in federal courts and Guantánamo Bay tribunals with his expert witness testimony.”

Word from the Eisenberg camp is that they are waiting for a final script before giving any answer. For Eisenberg, who has shown us he can play naive and bumbling to perfection (Adventureland) but also manipulative and divisive (The Social Network), it could be an interesting role, but we do have to wonder if it may be too similar to his Mark Zuckerberg character.

Watch: Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari in “30 Minutes or Less” trailer

April 21, 2011 | Posted by Lindsey Young in Videos Leave a comment

In Ruben Fleischer’s comedy adventure “30 Minutes or Less,” Jesse Eisenberg plays a pizza delivery boy who finds himself strapped with explosives and the instructions to rob a bank in less than 8 hours or the bomb goes boom. He calls upon his best friend, played by Aziz Ansari, to help him obtain the money. Danny McBride and Nick Swardson also star as the two thugs who use Eisenberg to get the cash they need.

“30 Minutes or Less” will be released in theatres on August 12, 2011. Until then, you can check out the hilarious trailer below via IGN:

Ellen Page and Jesse Eisenberg headed to Rome for Woody Allen’s next feature

April 13, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Jesse Eisenberg will head to Rome with Woody Allen after all, and Ellen Page will be joining him. Just a day after we first reported Eisenberg is being eyed for a leading role in the director’s next feature, Variety reports that he is now set for the tightly under wraps film, and adds Page’s name to the cast list as well.

Allen will direct from his own screenplay, though plot details are scarce. Alec Baldwin and Penelope Cruz are also onboard the follow-up to “Midnight in Paris”, Allen’s love letter to the French capital which will open the Cannes Film Festival next month. Cruz and Baldwin have worked with the director before (on “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Alice” respectively) but it will be a first for the youngsters.

Eisenberg was recently nominated for his first Oscar for “The Social Network”, while Page was a nominee back in 2008 for “Juno”. He is in the current animated release “Rio” while she is shilling indie dramedy “Super”.

Watch: Academy Award nominee Jesse Eisenberg’s “Holy Rollers” gains UK trailer

April 13, 2011 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Videos Leave a comment

With a release date of May 13th 2011, the UK finally gets a trailer for the 2010 Sundance Official Selection Holy Rollers, starring Jesse Eisenberg.

The film, directed by Kevin Asch (his first full length feature film), tells the tale of a fictional story inspired by real events, when Hasidic Jews in the nineties were recruited to smuggle ecstasy from Europe into the United States. In Holy Rollers, Eisenberg is lured into becoming a mule by a friend who has ties to a drug cartel in Israel.

Holy Rollers also stars fellow up and comers Justin Bartha, Ari Graynor and Danny A. Abeckaser.

Click the cut to view the trailer.

Read more

Jesse Eisenberg may head to Rome for Woody Allen’s next feature

April 11, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

After taking Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and an all-star American and French cast to the streets of Paris for his latest international romantic comedy “Midnight in Paris”, Woody Allen is headed to an equally iconic city for his next feature: Rome, Italy. Today Deadline reports that Alec Baldwin has committed to star in the picture, which already has Penelope Cruz on the roster, and that recent Oscar nominee Jesse Eisenberg has a leading role lined up as well, though his involvement seems less certain than the other two at the moment.

Allen is still putting the film together and there’s no word yet on the plot or production details, though presumably shooting will take place over the summer before Baldwin returns to work on the next season of “30 Rock”. Allen recently told La Republica newspaper, “I love these sophisticated cities. It’s fantastic to have the possibility to work there, like when I shot Manhattan in New York, Match Point in London and Vicky Cristina Barcelona in Barcelona … Each time, it’s like a declaration of love for certain places. I project onto the big screen my feelings for places which count a lot in my life. I hope to do the same thing with Rome.”

Eisenberg is currently traipsing around the globe promoting animated feature “Rio”, his follow-up to “The Social Network”, the film that garnered him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He has also completed filming on indie dramedy “Free Samples” and will next team up with Oscar winner Melissa Leo on “Predisposed”.

Chris Lowell and Emmy Rossum join “Light Years”

March 28, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Emmy Rossum has found success on television – in Showtime’s recently renewed “Shameless” – after an attempt at a big screen career seemed to fizzle out, but she is now making a foray back into films, joining “Light Years”, already starring Peter Gallagher. Fellow TV alum and “Private Practice” star Chris Lowell has also signed on to the indie drama.

“Light Years”, based on the 2009 short film “Some Boys Don’t Leave” starring Jesse Eisenberg, is a coming of age tale surrounding a young couple who break up but one can’t seem to let go. He decides to remain living in their shared apartment and she decides to move on with her life right in front of him. Maggie Kiley, who also created the short, will direct the feature she co-wrote Matthew Mullen.

Lowell, last briefly seen as George Clooney’s assistant in “Up in the Air”, will romance Emma Stone in her first dramatic turn in this August’s “The Help”. Rossum, once poised for stardom after being chosen to play Christine in the big screen adaptation of “The Phantom of the Opera” musical, has not been seen on the big screen since 2009′s indie “Dare” and “Dragonball: Evolution”.

Jesse Eisenberg to play Melissa Leo’s son in “Predisposed”

March 2, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Newly minted Oscar nominee Jesse Eisenberg and Oscar winner Melissa Leo are teaming up to play mother and son in indie comedy “Predisposed”, according to Vulture. The story is “a macabre look at the unhealthy relationship between a drug-addicted mother (Leo) and her college-bound son (Eisenberg), set on the day of both his interview at Julliard and her planned arrival to rehab.”

Leo’s character can’t be admitted to emergency rehab without already being intoxicated, and further complicated arise between her and her drug dealer, rumored to be played by Tracy Morgan, plus a rival dealer who has yet to be cast. It’s based on the 2009 Sundance short which also starred Leo, co-written by Philip Dorling and Ron Nyswaner with Dorling directing. For the feature film, Nyswaner will be the one making his directorial debut. Shooting is set to begin this summer.

It will be Eisenberg’s first and thus far only upcoming commitment since awards frenzy took hold of “The Social Network”. He’ll next be heard in the animated “Rio”, along with Ocar host Anne Hathaway and also has “30 Minutes or Less” awaiting release.

Independent Spirit Awards full winners list and exclusive backstage images

February 26, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Awards, Interviews Leave a comment

It was a cold and windy afternoon under the tents at the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards, as many of the usual suspects picked up awards, including James Franco and Natalie Portman for Best Male and Female Leads for their roles in Oscar favorites “127 Hours” and “Black Swan” respectively. “Black Swan” was the big winner of the night, also winning Best Director for Darren Aronofsky and Best Feature. “Winter’s Bone” also made a strong showing, winning both Best Supporting Actor and Actress for John Hawkes and Dale Dickey. Awards juggernaut “The King’s Speech” also picked up Best Foreign Film.

We managed to get a bit of James Franco in the press room on video and a bunch of great images of everyone from Mark Ruffalo to Jesse Eisenberg to Jon Hamm and more.

Exclusive Backstage Images from the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards

See the full list of winners below.

Read more

Page 3 of 41234