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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susanna bier

Romanian actress Ana Ularu to challenge Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in “Serena”

May 12, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Romanian actress Ana Ularu has been cast in the pivotal role of Rachel Harmon in Susanna Bier’s “The Falling”, according to Romanian news site EVZ.ro. The film, formerly called “Serena”, stars Jennifer Lawrence in the titular role with Bradley Cooper as her husband and a supporting cast that includes Rhys Ifans, Toby Jones and David Dencik.

Lawrence and Cooper play Serena and George Pemberton, newlyweds who have eyes only for each other and go to deadly lengths to eliminate anyone or anything that gets in the way of their rising timber empire in 1920s North Carolina. Problem is, George had a little fling with young Rachel before he met Serena, and Rachel became pregnant. The Pembertons refuse to support Rachel in any way, and when Serena discovers she can’t have a child, Rachel’s life and the life of George’s illegitimate child come into immediate danger. British actor Sam Reid has also been cast as Vaughn, one of the Pembertons’ loggers who risks his own safety to befriend Rachel and her child.

Ularu, who speaks fluent English, French, Spanish and Italian, played the lead in Bogdan Apetri’s “Outbound,” for which she won Best Actress at various film festivals. She was recently named one of the Shooting Stars of 2012 at the annual Berlin Film Festival. Recent Shooting Star recipients have included Carey Mulligan, Andrea Riseborough and Alicia Vikander. Reid recently landed a lead role in Alex Proyas’ now dead “Paradise Lost” and was last seen in Roland Emmerich’s “Anonymous.”

First official image of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence as 1920s lumber tycoons in “Serena”

April 11, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images Leave a comment

We’ve seen some set photos of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in Prague filming their second collaboration, but today we have a crystal clear look at the first official image from Susanna Bier’s “Serena.” This time around, the “Silver Linings Playbook” co-stars play newlyweds Serena and George Pemberton, who rise to prominence in the lumber industry in 1920s North Carolina. When Pemberton’s illegitimate family threatens Serena’s ambitions, she turns her murderous agenda against them.

Collider posted the first official image, showing Lawrence and Cooper all glammed up as the lumber tycoons that rule over North Carolina, but as we know from the set photos, their ascension to the top is a bit dirtier and bloodier than this photo would suggest.

The full image plus official press release are below.

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First Look: Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper reunited on the set of “Serena”

April 7, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images 2 Comments

Surely barely rested from her whirlwind promotional tour for “The Hunger Games” – which is now on its way to its third week at #1 at the box office – Jennifer Lawrence is already hard at work on her next film. The Prague paparazi snapped the newest overnight superstar on the set of Susanna Bier’s “Serena”, based on the novel by Ron Rash and co-starring Bradley Cooper. Czech news site Blesk.cz got the first pictures from the set of the “Silver Linings Playbook” co-stars reunited.

The 2008 Rash novel follows a pair of young newlyweds, George and Serena Pemberton, who attempt to build a timbre empire in 1920s North Carolina by ay means necessary, including killing their competition. When Serena discovers she can’t have children, she sets out to murder the illegitimate child her husband fathered before her arrival in town and their passionate marriage quickly unravels.

Cooper is shown in the pictures demonstrating such ruthlessness in a bloody shirt, while Lawrence is back to blonde and curly after going dark to play post-apocalyptic teenage hero Katniss Everdeen. The two appear to have filmed at an old-fashioned train station, perhaps Serena’s arrival, while young extras in period garb were also snapped on set.

See the first images from the set of “Serena” below, and head to Blesk.cz for more. No release date has been announced yet.

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“The Silver Linings Playbook” co-stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence re-team for “Serena”

January 30, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 3 Comments

It seems there’s a trend happening amongst the young stars in Hollywood to quickly team up again with a recent co-star – Gosling and Stone, Hedlund and Stewart, and now Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. Vulture reports that “The Silver Linings Playbook” duo are set to reunite on “Serena”, a 1920s period drama based on the 2008 novel by Ron Rash.

Susanne Bier is set to direct the film about a pair of young newlyweds, George and Serena Pemberton, who attempt to build a timbre empire by ay means necessary, including killing their competition. When Serena discovers she can’t have children, she sets out to murder the illegitimate child her husband fathered before her arrival in North Carolina and their passionate marriage quickly unravels. Filming is set to begin soon.

It sounds like another dark and juicy role for Lawrence, who has played teenagers prior to now and has certainly never dabbled in such evil villainy before. Since being nominated for an Oscar for “Winter’s Bone”, Lawrence’s career has only climbed even higher. After landing the highly coveted lead in “The Hunger Games”, out in March, Lawrence quickly signed on for “Silver Linings” opposite Cooper for director David O. Russell, again beating out a slew of young actresses including Rachel McAdams, Olivia Wilde and Kirsten Dunst.

Meanwhile, Cooper’s got the monster hit (and soon to be trilogy) “The Hangover” plus an assortment of impressive indie projects, including “The Place Beyond the Pines” and recent Sundance premiere “The Words.” He’s also playing Lucifer in Alex Proyas’ “Paradise Lost”, which plans to begin filming in June.