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
•••••

mark waters

Dominic Sherwood to Play Christian in “Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters”; “Modern Family”‘s Sarah Hyland Also In

May 18, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

dominic-sherwood sarah-hyland The ever-growing cast of young adult supernatural romance adaptation “Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters” has added British actor Dominic Sherwood in the pivotal role of Christian, according to Deadline, who also adds “Modern Family” star Sarah Hyland, Gabriel Byrne and Joely Richardson round out the new cast additions.

Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry and Danila Kozlovsky play the lead trio, with Olga Kurylenko, Cameron Monaghan, Sami Gayle, Claire Foy and Ashley Charles in supporting roles. Mark Waters is directing the film adapted from the Richelle Mead series by his brother Dan Waters. The plot revolves around two best friends (Deutch’s Rose and Fry’s Lissa) who attend a school for vampires and half-vampires to rain and learn their place in the world. Sherwood will play Lissa’s love interest, Byrne will be Victor, the head of the Academy, while Hyland will play his daughter and a friend to Rose and Lissa. Filming in London begins next week.

Sherwood starred in British series “The Cut” and most recently appeared alongside John Magaro and Bella Heathcote in rock n roll coming of age drama “Not Fade Away.” Hyland has played Haley on hit ABC sitcom “Modern Family” throughout its five seasons and recently appeared in horror spoof “Scary MoVie.”

Cameron Monaghan Enrolls at “Vampire Academy” as Mason Ashford; Ashley Charles, Sami Gayle Also In

May 10, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 6 Comments

cameron-monaghan UPDATE: Deadline now reports Sami Gayle, Claire Foy an Ashley Charles have also joined the cast, with Gayle in the role of antagonist Mia, Charles as Jesse and Foy as Karp.

“Shameless” star Cameron Monaghan is the latest young actor to get in on the YA franchise game, with the official Twitter for the film announcing that he has been cast as Mason Ashford in “Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters.” He joins previously cast stars Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky and Olga Kurylenko in the supernatural romance that begins filming on May 27th.

Mark Waters is directing the film adapted from the Richelle Mead series by his brother. Deutch’s Rose is a dhampir, or half-vampire trained to protect Moroi, a race of peaceful, benevolent and mortal vampires from the Strigoi – evil, undead vampires pop culture is probably more familiar with. She plays bodyguard to her best friend Lissa, who is a Moroi princess. They have fled St. Vladimir’s Academy (the titular Vampire Academy where vampires and half-vampires train and learn to find their place in the world) but are forced to return, and that is when they encounter dhampir Dimitri (Kovlovsky), who becomes Rose’s instructor and, naturally, her love interest. Kurlyenko plays the school’s headmistress and Monaghan’s Mason is Rose’s best friend and fellow dhampir, who naturally also carries a torch for her. There is franchise potential here, as Mead has written six books following Rose, and there is also a spinoff series for a character introduced later in the series.

“Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters” will be released on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2014, where it will go head to head against another young adult novel adaptation, Wes Ball’s “The Maze Runner”, based on the books by James Dashner.

Most known as Ian Gallagher on Showtime’s hit family drama “Shameless”, Monaghan also appeared in Disney’s ensemble comedy “Prom” and recently wrapped up filming on indie adaptation “Jamie Marks is Dead.”

Olga Kurylenko Enrolls at “Vampire Academy”

April 29, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

olga-kurylenko Former Bond Girl Olga Kurylenko is the latest to be cast in young adult adaptation “Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters”, according to Deadline. The main trio of Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry and Danila Kozlovsky were cast back in February.

Deutch’s Rose is a dhampir, or half-vampire trained to protect Moroi, a race of peaceful, benevolent and mortal vampires from the Strigoi – evil, undead vampires pop culture is probably more familiar with. She plays bodyguard to her best friend Lissa (Fry), who is a Moroi princess. They have fled St. Vladimir’s Academy (the titular Vampire Academy where vampires and half-vampires train and learn to find their place in the world) but are forced to return, and that is when they encounter dhampir Dimitri, who becomes Rose’s instructor and, naturally, her love interest. Kurylenko is lining up the role of Ellen Kirova, the Moroi headmistress of St. Vladimir’s.

There is franchise potential here, as Mead has written six books following Rose, and there is also a spinoff series for a character introduced later in the series. Filming begins in late May under the direction of Mark Waters, and the film already has a February 14, 2014 release date, where it will go head to head against another young adult adaptation, “The Maze Runner.”

Kurylenko is one of our Faces to Watch in 2013 thanks to her dual roles in Terrence Malick’s “To the Wonder” and sci-fi epic “Oblivion” opposite Tom Cruise. Previous to this year, her claim to fame had been as Bond Girl Camille opposite Daniel Craig in “Quantum of Solace”, but it looks like she’ll have no problem leaving that limiting label behind.

“Beautiful Creatures” star Zoey Deutch leads trio of unknowns in YA adaptation “Vampire Academy”

February 1, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 18 Comments

Without nearly as much fanfare as their fellow YA adaptations, the three leads of the upcoming adaptation of Richelle Mead series “Vampire Academy” were announced today via the film’s official Facebook. The most recognizable of the trio is Zoey Deutch, who will also play the lead character Rose Hathaway, and she’ll be joined by Australian actress Lucy Fry in the role of Vasilisa “Lissa” Dragomir, Rose’s best friend and Danila Kozlovsky as Dimitri Belikov, the inevitable love interest.

“Mean Girls” director Mark Waters is directing the film – to be retitled “Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters” since “Vampire Academy” is pretty embarrassing on its own in this post-Twilight world – written by his brother Dan Waters (“Heathers”). Deutch’s Rose is a dhampir, or half-vampire trained to protect Moroi, a race of peaceful, benevolent and mortal vampires from the Strigoi – evil, undead vampires pop culture is probably more familiar with. She plays bodyguard to her best friend Lissa, who is a Moroi princess. They have fled St. Vladimir’s Academy (the titular Vampire Academy where vampires and half-vampires train and learn to find their place in the world) but are forced to return, and that is when they encounter dhampir Dimitri, who becomes Rose’s instructor and, naturally, her love interest. There is franchise potential here, as Mead has written six books following Rose, and there is also a spinoff series for a character introduced later in the series. Filming on the first movie will begin in early summer.

Deutch is racking up those YA adaptation franchises, as she’ll soon be seen in the role of Emily in Richard LaGravanese’s adaptation of “Beautiful Creatures.” She was a regular on short-lived CW series “Ringer”, where she played Sarah Michelle Gellar’s stepdaughter. Aussie Fry most recently appeared on TV series “Lightning Point” in her native country. Moscow-born Kozlovski is most known for Russian-language films “We Are From the Future” and “Soulless”, but is also fluent in English.