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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jonny weston

Jonny Weston and Sophia Black-D’Elia Land Michael Bay’s Found Footage Thriller “Almanac”

May 16, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

almanac Relative unknown young actors Jonny Weston and Sophia Black-D’Elia have been chosen by Michael Bay for his low budget found footage time travel thriller “Almanac” (not to be confused with the other found footage time travel thriller also in the works), according to THR.

Bay is producing the film written by first-timers Andrew Stark and Jason Pagan and to be directed by Dean Israelite. While that other time travel film “Glimmer” is about an existing time portal sucking teenagers into the past, it appears the teens in Bay’s film will be a little more proactive, and the secretive plot is centered around the creation of a time machine.

Weston had supporting roles in indies like “Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You” and “John Dies at the End”, but landed a pretty big break when he was cast as surfer Jay Moriarty in biopic “Chasing Mavericks” opposite Gerard Butler and “The Hunger Games”‘ Leven Rambin. Black-D’Elia auditioned for Bay for “Transformers 4″ but ultimately lost the role to Nioca Peltz, but Bay was clearly impressed. She’s had TV roles in “All My Children”, “Gossip Girl” and the short-lived American version of “Skins.”

Surf’s up for Taylor Handley in “Of Men and Mavericks”

October 8, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Psycho Oliver’s at it again. That crazy kid from the first season of “The O.C.” who took Marissa hostage at gunpoint will still be messing with people’s lives, according to Variety. Taylor Handley has signed on to play the villain role in Curtis Hanson’s surfing drama “Of Men and Mavericks” (formerly just “Mavericks”), a biopic of surfing legend Jay Moriarty.

Newcomer Jonny Weston has the lead role of Moriarity, a Northern California surfer who became renowned for surfing the treacherous waves at Mavericks, a surf spot near Santa Cruz. He made the cover of Surfer magazine at the age of 16 for successfully surfing Mavericks (which four days later killed a much more experienced surfer), and is partly credited for bringing worldwide attention to the previously hidden spot. He survived the treacherous California waves, but died in 2001, apparently drowning during a free-diving expedition in the Indian Ocean at the age of 22. Gerard Butler will be Rick “Frosty” Hesson, friend and mentor who trained him for over a year, and “The Hunger Games” star Leven Rambin will play Moriarty’s best friend and love interest, who is an avid surfer herself. Elisabeth Shue and Abigail Spencer also star as Moriarty’s mother and Hesson’s wife. Handley plays a bully surfer who never follows surfers’ codes, which makes Moriarty’s laid back attitude even more of an idol to their peers.

Handley has stuck mainly to TV after his big break on “The O.C.”, headlining failed series “Hidden Palms” with Amber Heard and guest-starring every series from “Southland” to “CSI: NY” to “Law & Order: LA.” He was last seen on the big screen with Lucas Till and Aaron Eckhart in alien invasion actioner “Battle: Los Angeles.”

“The Hunger Games” star Leven Rambin surfing “Mavericks” with newcomer Jonny Weston

September 20, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

“The Hunger Games” Tribute Leven Rambin will be going for a different sort of sport as Variety reports the actress has landed the female lead in surfing darma “Mavericks” opposite Gerard Butler and newcomer Jonny Weston, who has the male lead.

Curtis Hanson directs the biopic of late surfing legend Jay Moriarty, chronicling his quest to ride the infamous waves at Mavericks, a Northern California surf spot that produces up to 80 foot waves in winter. He made the cover of Surfer magazine at the age of 16 for successfully surfing Mavericks (which four days later killed a much more experienced surfer), and is partly credited for bringing worldwide attention to the previously hidden spot. He survived the treacherous California waves, but died in 2001, apparently drowning during a free-diving expedition in the Indian Ocean at the age of 22. Weston will play Moriarty, Butler will be Rick “Frosty” Hesson, friend and mentor who trained him for over a year, and Rambin will play Moriarty’s best friend and love interest, who is an avid surfer herself.

Rambin, primarily a TV actress up until now, has appeared on shows ranging from “All My Children” to “Grey’s Anatomy” to “One Tree Hill” and Disney’s “Sonny with a Chance”. She was last seen on the big screen in 2010 indie “Case 219″ but will surely get a huge boost in her profile when she stars as Glimmer, the Tribute who comes face to face with Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in the arena in Gary Ross’s highly anticipated “Hunger Games”, out next March.