New images from “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” feature Robert Sheehan and Jemima West

February 10, 2013 | Posted by Araceli Roach in Images 2 Comments

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Fans of “The Mortal Instruments,” the best-selling young adult fantasy series, have been feverish for any information ever since they heard about the highly anticipated book-to-movie adaptation. Lucky for them, new stills of young actors Robert Sheehan and Jemima West have been released.

“The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” the first film in what may become a franchise, follows Lily Collins as teenager Clary Fray, who is unknowingly pulled into an ancient battle to protect our world from demons when her mother (Lena Headey) mysteriously disappears. Clary must then join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, a secret race of half-angel warriors tasked to protect humanity, and learns there’s more to New York City and her own past than she thought.

Irish expat Robert Sheehan plays Simon Lewis, Clary’s best friend who is secretly in love with her. (Too bad Clary is about to fall for one of the Shadowhunters.) The still can be viewed below, thanks to Teen.com.

Jemima West stars as Isabelle Lightwood, one of the bad-ass Shadowhunters helping Clary. (Though she looks particularly worried). This still can also be viewed below, thanks to Collider.

The film is directed by Harald Zwart and also stars Jamie Campbell Bower, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Kevin Durand, CCH Pounder and Kevin Zegers. It will be released on August 23, 2013.

Kevin Zegers to play Alec Lightwood in “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”

July 27, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Canadian actor Kevin Zegers has been tapped for the role of Alec Lightwood in teen franchise hopeful “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”, according to Just Jared. He joins Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell-Bower, Robert Sheehan, Jemima West and fellow Canadian Godfrey Gao in the production set to film next month.

Collins stars as Clary Fray, a seemingly ordinary human girl who discovers that she can see supernatural beings that no one else can and gets drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters, humans born with angelic blood who hunt and kill demons. Campbell-Bower is male lead and Clary’s love interest Jace Wayland, while Sheehan’s Simon is Clary’s best friend who harbors a secret crush on her and plays in a band. West plays fellow Shadowhunter Isabelle and Zegers’ Alec is Isabelle’s brother, also a Shadowhunter. He also harbors a secret flame for Jace and is cold towards Clary at first because of it, though he ultimately realizes Gao’s Magnus, an 800 year old warlock, is his true love. Harald Zwart is directing the first movie based on Cassandra Clare’s best-selling teen novels and the film is scheduled for release on August 23, 2013.

Zegers had roles in “Transamerica” opposite Felicity Huffman’s Oscar-nominated turn, “The Jane Austen Book Club” and is a recurring guest on The CW series “Gossip Girl.” He’s currently filming indie drama “All the Wrong Reasons” opposite Adam Brody and Sarah Gadon.

Taiwanese actor Godfrey Gao to play Magnus in “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”

July 19, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 5 Comments

Taiwanese model/actor Godfrey Gao (Gao Yi Xiang) has landed the role of Magnus Bane in “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones”, the first in a potential new teen franchise starring Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell-Bower as the teenage star-crossed paranormal lovers. The Harald Zwat-directed film, based on the series by Cassandra Clare, also stars newcomers Jemima West and Robert Sheehan, as well as more established new additions Lena Headey, Kevin Durand, Robert Maillet and Jared Harris.

Collins stars as Clary Fray, a seemingly ordinary human girl who discovers that she can see supernatural beings that no one else can and gets drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters, humans who hunt and kill demons. Campbell-Bower is male lead and Clary’s love interest Jace Wayland, while West plays fellow Shadowhunter Isabelle. Sheehan’s Simon is Clary’s best friend who harbors a secret crush on her and plays in a band. Gao’s Magnus, described as “a quarter Indonesian, a quarter Dutch, and half demon”, is introduced as a warlock and plays a crucial part throughout the series. As he is over 800 years old, he also features in the prequel series, The Infernal Devices. Zwart will direct the first film in Toronto this summer, aiming for an August 23, 2013 release.

Gao, who grew up in Vancouver but who has acted only in Chinese TV dramas, was named the face of Louis Vuitton last year and has been dubbed “the world’s first Asian male supermodel.”

“Misfits” star Robert Sheehan to play Simon in “The Mortal Instruments” opposite Lily Collins

July 11, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Teen franchise hopeful “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” has added another young UK actor to its cast. “Misfits” star Robert Sheehan has been chosen for the role of Simon Lewis and joins a cast that already includes Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell-Bower and Jemima West. The novels’ author Cassandra Clare broke the news on her official Tumblr earlier today.

Collins stars as Clary Fray, a seemingly ordinary human girl who discovers that she can see supernatural beings that no one else can and gets drawn into the world of the Shadowhunters, humans who hunt and kill demons. Campbell-Bower is male lead and Clary’s love interest Jace Wayland, while West plays fellow Shadowhunter Isabelle. Sheehan’s Simon is Clary’s best friend who harbors a secret crush on her and plays in a band. He, too, gets drawn into the secret underground world of the Shadowhunters in New York City. Harald Zwart will direct the film in Toronto this summer, aiming for an August 23, 2013 release.

Irish actor Sheehan has a cult following thanks to his role as Nathan Young on UK teen series “Misfits”, but he has left the show, presumably in order to pursue a rising film career, which kicked off when he co-starred opposite Ben Barnes in “Killing Bono.” This will certainly prove to have been a wise choice if “City of Bones” is successful enough to spawn sequels – Clare has written five books in the main series, without counting prequels and spin-offs.

Michael Fassbender and “Misfits” star Robert Sheehan rock “Good Vibrations”

May 11, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

The roots of the Northern Ireland punk scene is getting the big screen treatment and it’ll get some help from the ever in demand Michael Fassbender and recent “Misfits” alum Robert Sheehan. From Cannes, Screen Daily reports “Good Vibrations” , from the record label of the same name, will tell the story of its founder, Teri Hooley, known as Godfather of of the Belfast punk scene in the 1970s.

Richard Dormer will play Hooley, who founded Good Vibrations from the ground up as a way to showcase punk musicians from Northern Ireland to the rest of the United Kingdom, believing they weren’t given enough attention. His signings included bands like The Moondogs, The Shapes, Protex, The Outcasts, and perhaps most famous, The Undertones. Steve Coogan and Bronagh Gallagher round out the supporting cast, with filming set to begin late summer in Belfast under the direction of Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa from a script by Glenn Patterson and Colin Carberry.

Doctor’s companion to star in new teen comedy

November 16, 2010 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 1 Comment

Karen Gillan, a British up and comer best known for playing the Doctor’s companion in BBC cult TV show “Doctor Who”, has been cast as “Juliet” in an Alice In Wonderland-style version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, entitled “Romeo and Brittney”.

The time-travelling Juliet/Brittney – a role that should come easy to Gillan considering the premise of Doctor Who – “wakes up in mythical 13th century Verona with all the people she knows from her high school life playing characters in the play. And she wants to get out because she knows how the play ends.” according to Deadline who received this exclusive.

Also starring Robert Sheehan (another British up and comer who stars in another British cult TV show) as her love interest Romeo, and Gillian Anderson of X-Files fame as the Mother, “Romeo and Brittney” will begin filming next year to the cost of $7 million.

Being directed by first time director David Baddiel – possibly best known for football anthem “Three Lions” – the project is being pitched as “Shakespeare in Love” mixed with “Clueless”. Baddiel says “We [Baddiel and producer Arvand Ethan David] both love literate teen comedies and we wanted to do our own version. After all, 10 Things I Hate About You was based on The Taming On the Shrew just as Clueless was based on Jane Austen’s Emma and Easy A is inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. And what is Twilight if it’s not Romeo and Juliet with vampires and werewolves?”

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