Kaya Scodelario Lands Female Lead in “The Maze Runner” Adaptation

April 7, 2013 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

British rising star Kaya Scodelario will now get to add a major YA adaptation to her resume, which is seemingly becoming a crucial checkmark on every young actor’s to-do list. Director Wes Ball took to Twitter to announce that Scodelario has been cast in the role of Teresa in his adaptation of James Dashner’s best-selling teen dystopian series “The Maze Runner”, which may or may not already be filming.

The film will follow the still-uncast Thomas, the lead character of the trilogy of post-apocalyptic set novels, who begins life as one of the titular Maze Runners when he is deposited in The Glade with all of his past memories erased and finds himself among dozens of other boys who arrived the exact same way. As the boys train to become Runners, Thomas begins to question who’s behind their imprisonment and the ideas of a rebellion begin percolating. The all British cast thus far also includes Aml Ameen as Alby, the strict leader of the Gladers, Will Poulter as Gally, Thomas’ nemesis and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt. Scodelario’s Teresa is a surprise arrival at The Glade, the only girl and the final Glader. An ally of Thomas’ throughout all three books, the two often communicate via a telepathic link. “The Maze Runner” is set for a February 14, 2014 release.

Scodelario is perhaps still best known for her role as troubled teenager Effy on hit UK series “Skins”, but lately she’s been earning critical raves for her roles in Andrea Arnold’s “Wuthering Heights” as well as this year’s Sundance premiere “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes.”

British TV actress Charlotte Riley lands role in “All You Need is Kill” opposite Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise

August 22, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

British actress Charlotte Riley has landed a major potential breakout role in Doug Liman’s graphic novel adaptation “All You Need is Kill”, according to Variety. The actress perhaps most known for being engaged to Tom Hardy will be joining Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt in the futuristic Groundhog Day-esque thriller that will film later this fall.

In “All You Need is Kill”, Cruise plays a soldier in a futuristic war against an alien race who finds himself reliving the day he dies over and over again, and becomes more adept at surviving as he learns more throughout each repeated day. Blunt and Riley play fellow soldiers. One – presumably Blunt – Cruise’s character notices for the first time on his 158th repeated day, and who he discovers could lead to his final salvation or downfall.

Riley, who was at one point considered for the Catwoman role in “The Dark Knight Rises”, recently wrapped up shooting on epic miniseries “World Without End” opposite Sarah Gadon, Tom Cullen and many others. She played Cathy opposite Hardy’s Heathcliffe in a 2009 TV Movie adaptation of “Wuthering Heights.”

Kaya Scodelario to replace Rooney Mara in “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes”

December 13, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

Just yesterday The Playlist uncovered during an interview with the filmmaker that Rooney Mara had dropped out of “Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes”, an indie drama that would have reunited her with “Tanner Hall” director Francesca Gregorini. Well, it didn’t take long for the filmmakers to find a replacement, as Variety reports British up and comer Kaya Scodelario will now take the title role instead.

According to Gregorini’s interview with The Playlist, age was the issue that caused Mara to ultimately pass on the project. The character, Emanuel, is a troubled seventeen year old girl who agrees to babysit her strange neighbor’s “baby”, which is in fact just a life-like doll. Meanwhile, the neighbor herself is the spitting image of Emanuel’s dead mother. Though Mara is a youthful-looking 26 and had played teenagers in all her projects prior to “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, it’s undeniable that fresh-faced 19 year old Scodelario is a much more natural fit. The project with Mara in the title role had been gearing up for a shoot this past summer, but will now be filmed in early 2012.

Scodelario, a fan favorite on British teen series “Skins”, was amongst many girls who may or may not have come close to landing the role of Katniss in “The Hunger Games”, which went to Jennifer Lawrence. But Scodelario herself had quite a year when she starred as Cathy in Andrea Arnold’s new and innovative retelling of Emily Bronte classic “Wuthering Heights.” She recently wrapped up teen drama “Now is Good” opposite Dakota Fanning and Jeremy Irvine.

New images of Kaya Scodelario and James Howson in “Wuthering Heights”

September 30, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images Leave a comment

A hundred and sixty four years after Emily Bronte first published “Wuthering Heights” and more than twenty adaptations later, it seemed safe to say there was no more new or innovative way to tell the story of star crossed lovers Cathy and Heatcliffe (short of a Seth Grahame-Smith retooling), but if reviews are to be believed, director Andrea Arnold has done just that with her new film, described as “raw”, “gritty” and “bare” and a plethora of words never before associated with big screen adaptations of Victorian novels.

From what mysterious little has been revealed by previous promo materials, like the first trailer, we believe it. Today the first stills have been released that actually feature our ill-fated lovers – played in youth by Shannon Beer and Solomon Glave, and as adults by Kaya Scodelario and James Howson – though even here, the long stretches of moor and sky are still featured prominently. “Wuthering Heights” will be released in the UK on November 11 following a premiere at the London Film Festival. [Read more

Watch: first trailer for Andrea Arnold’s “Wuthering Heights” featuring Kaya Scodelario

September 19, 2011 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Videos 1 Comment

Andrea Arnold’s retelling of the classic story Wuthering Heights has been one of the most anticipated films of the year. It premièred at this year’s Venice Film Festival to mixed reviews, with The Playlist calling it “incredibly powerful, extremely sexy … and a truly remarkable reinvention of a text”, but Variety complained about the “languorous repetitiveness” and the Guardian finding a “problem [with] the faint stiffness and self-consciousness of the acting and the crucial lack of chemistry.”

Starring a cast of unknown talent – Solomon Glave, James Howson, Shannon Beer and Kaya Scodelario – the first teaser trailer has today been released for this adaptation, and this writer’s opinion so far falls in line with the latter reviews above. The setting looks impressive (a feature of Arnold’s work is that she often allows the setting to become a character, and it looks like nothing has changed here), as does the cinematography … but it all looks rather boring.

No doubt much of the savage action that has been hinted at in several reviews will be kept away from these trailers, but we look forward to viewing the full film – it will be showing at the London FIlm Festival before wide release in the UK on November 11th.

“Skins” star Kaya Scodelario joins “Now Is Good” opposite Dakota Fanning and Jeremy Irvine

June 26, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 2 Comments

British actress Kaya Scodelario took to Twitter yesterday to announce she has joined the cast of “Now Is Good”, starring Dakota Fanning as a terminally ill teenager who is determined to live her short life to the fullest. Jeremy Irvine stars opposite Fanning as the boy next door with whom she falls in love. Ol Parker will direct and Paddy Considine and Olivia Williams will co-star alongside the youngsters, presumably playing Fanning’s parents who struggle with setting limits on a teenager with so little time to experience things like sex, drugs and adventure.

Scodelario sounded ecstatic about the film and has apparently been sitting on the news for a while: “Just been told that I’m aloud 2 tell u guys what my next project is!It’s called Now Is Good and I’ll be working with Dakota Fanning!Excited!” After taking a moment to cringe at the failing British education system, we can begin speculating on what role the young “Skins” star might play. Inevitably, Fanning’s character Tessa is the straight-laced good girl with the complete opposite for a best friend. Scodelario may well likely play Zoey, the more outgoing, reckless and life-of-the-party of the pair.

The 19-year-old Scodelario is most known to audiences for her role as fan favorite Effy on UK teen series “Skins”, and recently was shortlisted for the role of Katniss Everdeen in Gary Ross’s “The Hunger Games”, a role that eventually went to Jennifer Lawrence. However, Scodelario may have her own big breakout moment on film when she headlines Andrea Arnold’s new adaptation of “Wuthering Heights” as Cathy, one half of a tortured couple whose love/hate relationship transcends life and death. The highly anticipated (and highly secretive) film is rumored to be planning an unveiling at one of the many prestigious film festivals rolling out this fall, the most likely being Venice or Toronto.

Unknown James Howson becomes first black Heathcliffe in “Wuthering Heights”

November 22, 2010 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Andrea Arnold has gone to great lengths to keep her upcoming adaptation of Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” under wraps, and indeed, it’s only after filming has wrapped that we’ve gotten the identity of Heathcliffe, one half of a tormented couple whose love/hate relationship transcends generations and even life and death. Unknown British actor James Howson reluctantly confirms to The Daily Mail that indeed, it was him who landed the coveted and much speculated about role opposite “Skins” star Kaya Scodelario as Cathy. Howson is believed to be the first non-white actor to ever portray the role on screen, though Bronte’s writing describes Heathcliffe as being “dark-skinned gypsy in aspect and a little lascar”.

Also sticking closer to the source material is the age of the actors. Howson is in his early 20s and Scodelario is 18, while previous versions had much older and more established actors in the roles. A set source says, “Previous versions have had people in their mid-30s running up and down the moors and that is not what the novel is about at all. This is all about going back to basics.”

Howson, who has absolutely no presence on the internet at all, only spoke to the media after the film’s wrap party, and still seems hesitant to give anything away. “The filming went really well. Yeah, I’m from Leeds. I don’t really know if I’m supposed to be doing this. I should really speak to someone first – not my agent – someone else.”

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