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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john goodman

Newcomer Dimitri Leonidas Joins George Clooney’s “The Monuments Men”

March 13, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

dimitri-leonidas Unknown 25 year old British actor Dimitri Leonidas has been cast in WWII heist thriller “The Monuments Men” by director George Clooney, according to Variety. Leonidas will join an all-star cast that includes Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin and Clooney himself.

Clooney and producing partner Grant Heslov wrote the script based on the true story of the Monuments Men, American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others who raced against the clock to track down hidden stashes of invaluable art pieces which Hitler and the Nazi regime stole, deemed “degenerate” and intended to destroy. Filming is now underway in Europe.

Leonidas has been acting steadily on British television for several years, including a guest spot on “Doctor Who” and the recent “Sinbad” miniseries, and appeared in 2010 ancient Rome war epic “Centurion” with Michael Fassbender and Imogen Poots. His last big screen appearance was in last year’s indie paranormal coming of age tale “Animals.”

“The Artist” Oscar winner Jean Dujardin joins all-star cast in George Clooney’s “The Monuments Men”

October 29, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

George Clooney is stepping back behind the camera for his follow-up to political thriller “The Ides of March” and this time he’s assembled an even more A-list cast in front of the camera. For the WWII set drama “The Monuments Men”, Clooney will also star, alongside Daniel Craig, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville and Bob Balaban.

Clooney and producing partner Grant Heslov wrote the script based on the true story of the Monuments Men, American and British museum directors, curators, art historians, and others who raced against the clock to track down hidden stashes of invaluable art pieces which Hitler and the Nazi regime stole, deemed “degenerate” and intended to destroy. Filming begins on March 1st in Europe.

Dujardin, who beat Clooney’s “The Descendants” performance for the Best Actor Oscar last year for his completely silent work in “The Artist”, is already quite known in his native France particularly for his roles in James Bond spoof films “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies” and “OSS 117: Lost in Rio”, though he’s certainly getting a well-deserved introudction to American audiences now. Since his Oscar win, he has been cast and is currently filming opposite Leonardo Dicaprio in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Braodway star Stark Sands joins Coen Brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis”

February 9, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

More musically inclined actors are lining up for the Joel and Etahn Coen’s next project, 1960s set folk music drama “Inside Llewyn Davis.” Deadline reports Broadway and screen actor Stark Sands has joined the cast that already includes Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Garrett Hedlund and John Goodman.

Isaac plays Davis, a fictional character loosely based on 1960s Greenwich Village based musician Dave Van Ronk, nicknamed “Mayor of MacDougal Street”, whose circle of friends and fellow musicians included Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Joni Mitchell. Despite being talented and passionate, he can’t make ends meet just playing music. Timberlake has the role of Jim, a fellow folk musician who is married to Mulligan’s character Jean. Sands will play a young soldier on leave, while Hedlund and Goodman’s characters are still unknown. Cameras began rolling this week in New York City.

The musical abilities required should be no problem at all for Sands, a Tony nominee and recent headliner on Broadway in Green Day musical “American Idiot.” He made his big screen debut in 2003′s indie “Die Mommie Die” and has also appeared in films including “Chasing Liberty” and “Flags of Our Fathers”, as well as on TV in HBO miniseries “Generation Kill” and current CBS cop drama pilot “The 2-2.”

Garrett Hedlund to jam with Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake for the Coen Bros’ “Inside Llewyn Davis”

January 9, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

“Akira” getting pushed back may be a blessing in disguise for Garrett Hedlund (some would say flat out blessing, but we digress). Variety reports the star now has an open slot in his schedule and has promptly filled it with something awesome: Hedlund is jumping on board the Coen Brothers’ next directorial vehicle, the 1960s set folk music drama “Inside Llewyn Davis”, which already stars Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman.

Isaac plays Davis, a fictional character loosely based on 1960s Greenwich Village based musician Dave Van Ronk, nicknamed “Mayor of MacDougal Street”, whose circle of friends and fellow musicians included Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Patrick Sky, Phil Ochs, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Joni Mitchell. Despite being talented and passionate, he can’t make ends meet just playing music. Timberlake has the role of Jim, a fellow folk musician who is married to Mulligan’s character Jean. Hedlund’s character is unknown, but after having done some impressive crooning in “Country Strong”, it should be no problem for him to pick up a guitar and jam with his co-stars.

Hedlund, who is still attached to “Akira” whenever the risky, big budget remake finally gets its act together at Warner Bros, and also has the similarly long-gestating, controversial adaptation of “On the Road” in the can ready for release this year. His past couple of high profile projects, “Country Strong” and “Tron: Legacy”, weren’t exactly big breakout moments for him, but it’s clear bigger successes lay just beyond the horizon for the talented and underrated actor.

“Lucky One” Taylor Schilling marries Ben Affleck in “Argo”

August 29, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Newcomer Taylor Schilling has been given one hell of an introduction to mainstream feature films. Having wrapped up romancing Zac Efron in Nicholas Sparks’ “The Lucky One”, she is now upgrading to an even bigger Hollywood heartthrob. Variety reports Schilling will play Mrs Ben Affleck in political thriller “Argo”, also directed by the actor. Schilling is the first female to jump on board the cast that already includes Bryan Cranston, Kyle Chandler, John Goodman and Alan Arkin. Recently “Monsters” breakout star Scoot McNairy also signed on.

Based on Joshuah Bearman’s April 2007 Wired magazine article “How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran,” “Argo” is a retelling of true events that surround a CIA operative team smuggled out American diplomats being held hostage by pretending they were a Hollywood movie crew. Affleck plays Tony Mendez, the leader of the operation, while Schilling will be Christine Mendez, a former teacher whose role is, predictably, to sit at home and worry about her husband.

Schilling had been most known for a regular role on the short lived medical drama “Mercy” before landing the female lead opposite Efron in the next Sparks adaptation, which have a history of being box office successes and sometime star makers (see: Mandy Moore, Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, Liam Hemsworth). Clearly Schilling’s just getting her feet wet landing love interest and wife roles – albeit high profile ones; hopefully we’ll get to report on her landing something a little meatier soon.

“Monsters” breakout star Scoot McNairy joins Ben Affleck’s “Argo”

August 4, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Okay, so he may not have ended up in “Prometheus” or “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” after all, but Scoot McNairy, breakout star of Gareth Edwards’ low-budget “Monsters”, seems to be making an impression on Hollywood nevertheless. Variety is reporting that McNairy has joined the impressive ensemble cast of Ben Affleck’s follow-up to “The Town”, political thriller “Argo”.

Based on Joshuah Bearman’s April 2007 Wired magazine article “How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran,” “Argo” is a retelling of true events that surround a CIA operative team smuggled out American diplomats being held hostage by pretending they were a Hollywood movie crew. Affleck is also leading the cast that includes Bryan Cranston, John Goodman and Alan Arkin. To add a dash of realism (and no doubt readying some fun anecdotes for junket season), Affleck plans on having the cast members who will be playing hostages live in a a “safe house” for two weeks prior to filming to experience what their real life counterparts actually went through.

After starring in “Monsters”, which was made for under $500,000 but has made over $3 million worldwide, McNairy recently wrapped a lead role in the highly anticipated “Cogan’s Trade”, Andrew Dominik’s gambling heist actioner which pits his character against the likes of Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Mark Ruffalo and Sam Rockwell.