The Mortal Institute: Casting news

Showing posts with label Casting news. Show all posts

Monday, December 16, 2013

Kevin Zegers Joins Fox's TV Series 'Gracepoint'

Kevin Zegers known for playing Shadowhunter Alec Lightwood in 'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones' will be taking on a new role in Fox's upcoming show Gracepoint--the U.S. adaptation of the U.K. series Broadchurch. He will play Owen Burke whose described as "a handsome, clever, and extremely laid back young reporter on the local town newspaper."

The Hollywood Reporter revealed this about his character's background, "Gracepoint born and bred, he didn't want to go away to college -- he couldn’t afford it and he felt he could do what he needed to do here. But now, with the arrival of a big city journalist, his dormant ambitions are awakened -- getting both himself and his aunt Ellie (Anna Gunn) in big trouble. Jonathan Bailey played a similar role in the BBC America series on which Fox's take is based."

Gracepoint follows the events and investigation that unfold in the sleepy seaside town of Gracepoint after the tragic and mysterious death of a young boy. Though the cause of his death remains unsolved -- he was found on an idyllic beach surrounded by rocks and a jutting cliff face -- the picturesque town where the tragedy occurred is at the heart of a major police investigation and a nationwide media frenzy.

It will be an eight-part series which is adapted from the already existing, and successful British program Broadchurch.

"Zegers joins a cast that includes David Tennant (Detective Emmett Carver), Breaking Bad's Anna Gunn (Ellie Miller), Jacki Weaver (Susan Wright), Kevin Ranking (Paul Coates) and Virginia Kull (Beth Lasseter)."

With an all-star cast and the new addition of our beloved TMI actor I think it's safe to say the show's going to be awesome! Are you looking forward to seeing Kevin Zegers in Gracepoint? Comment below and share your thoughts!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Jared Harris to star in 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' Film

'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones' and 'Mad Men' star Jared Harris will be joining the cast of Guy Ritchie's spy film 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'.

The Hollywood Reporter released this news:

"Warner Bros. announced that its big-screen take on the classic 1960s spy TV series will big production on Sept. 9, shooting in England, with location filming also in Italy, Rome and Naples.
The film follows special agents Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer), who work for the mysterious United Network Command for Law and Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.). Alicia Vikander also stars as the female lead in the pic, while Hugh Grant has a supporting role."

"Ritchie is directing and co-wrote the script with Lionel Wigram. Ritchie and Wigram also are producing under their new production shingle, which has a first-look deal with Warner Bros. John Davis (Chronicle) and Steve Clark-Hall (RocknRolla) are also producing while David Dobkin is executive producing."

"English actor Harris previously worked with Ritchie on Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, in which he starred as Professor James Moriarty. His recent film work includes a role in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and the upcoming Pompeii. He's repped by Independent Talent Group, Paradigm and Gateway Management Company."

Friday, August 24, 2012

Actor Spotlight: Harry Van Gorkum

So, I'll admit right away that I had no idea who Harry Van Gorkum was when I saw him listed as Alaric on the movie website. Good thing for me though, is that I am addicted to IMDb (seriously, I look EVERYTHING up on there). What I learned is, our beloved series once again snagged some great talent, even if it isn't a main role.

Things I learned about Harry Van Gorkum:

He's London-born, increasing the number of UK cast members yet again.
He is a classically trained actor.
This guy has quite the extensive resume.

Where you may have seen him before:
This may be the hardest part of trying to tell you about Harry. His IMDb shows 68 items as actor, though it doesn't even show his extensive stage theater career. He has had a successful career in American TV as well. I will admit (and possibly show my age) that I recognized soooo many things he's done, but I do realize that a good portion of our audience out there is younger than I am. Nevertheless, here are some things you may recognize Harry from:

Television:

The Wizard's of Waverly Place
NCIS: Los Angeles
I'm in the Band
Legend of the Seeker
Chuck
24
CSI
JAG
Friends
Seinfeld
The Nanny (he had a two year run here)

Movies:

Karate Kid (2010)
Masque of Red Death (2009)
Pink Panther 2 (2009)
Agent Cody Banks (2003)
One Night at McCool's (2001)
Gone in 60 Second's (2000)
Batman and Robin (1997)

He's also done tons of voice work in video games, such as:

Bourne Consipiracy
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Star Wars: Old Republic
Call of Duty 2
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

In conclusion, though Alaric isn't a main role, Harry has tons and tons of experience to bring to The Mortal Instruments series!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Casting News! Eric, Alaric, and "Vampire Lieutenant"

Hot casting news straight from the movie website.

First up, confirmation of Elyas M'Barek. The site doesn't have him listed as Raphael, but as the "Vampire Lieutenant."

"The leader of the New York vampire clan resides in their hideout in Spanish Harlem at the Hotel Dumort. He enjoys his position among his vampire brothers and views his race as superior among Downworlders, Nephilim and Humans."

***update: as per Cassie, via Twitter, "It is not Raphael. It's a different character."

Alaric is being played by Harry Van Gorkum.

Alaric is third in command in the New York Werewolf pack and a powerful warrior and respectful of the organization of the pack."

Eric is being played by Chris Ratz.

"Eric is one of Simon's best friends and considers himself an avant-garde New York intellectual. Clary and Simon loyally attend his band performances and poetry readings and sometimes he turns out to be useful, but rarely on purpose."

All information, quotes, and pictures from http://www.themortalinstrumentsmovie.com/

We wanted to be sure to share this information quickly, but as always, stay tuned for our detailed Actors Spotlight segments for more information!

New Casting: Elyas M'Barek as a Vampire

Earlier today Executive producer Martin Moszkowicz shared the link on his Twitter page on Tuesday.

Hollywood Reporter explains that Elyas has been cast as a vampire. As of yet we do not know which vampire, but we will keep you up to date when we find out.

COLOGNE, Germany - Elyas M'Barek, one of Germany's hottest young actors, has been cast as a vampire in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, the adaptation of Cassandra Clare's best-selling fantasy novel, which Harald Zwart (Karate Kid) is directing.

A veteran of German TV sitcoms, M'Barek became one of Germany's biggest box office draws with his starring role in the cross-culture romantic comedy Turkish For Beginners, in which he plays a stereotypical German-Turkish macho.
.

Welcome, Elyas. We welcome you to the TMI family. :)

Elyas was born in Munich, Germany and is 29 years old. He's starred in German TV shows such as Doctor's Diary - Männer sind die beste Medizin and movies including What a Man (2011).

Credit to Hollywood Reporter

Thursday, August 2, 2012

CASTING NEWS: Stephen R Hart as Brother Jeremiah

Cassie Clare just posted the newest cast member for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. His name is Stephen R. Hart.

Hart has been in several films and TV shows like Silent Hill, Max Payne, on the show Lost Girl, Resident Evil: Apocalypse and has a role in the upcoming 2013 blockbuster Oz: The Great and Powerful.

Here's what Cassie had to say:

“The Silent Brothers are archivists, but that is not all they are,” interrupted Hodge, sounding as if he were running out of patience. “In order to strengthen their minds, they have chosen to take upon themselves some of the most powerful runes ever created. The power of these runes is so great that the use of them—” He broke off and Clary heard Alec’s voice in her head, saying: They mutilate themselves. “Well, it warps and twists their physical forms. They are not warriors in the sense that other Shadowhunters are warriors. Their powers are of the mind, not the body.”
Brother Jeremiah, who brings Clary and Jace to the Silent City, is:
Stephen R Hart
Dude seems appropriately creepy to me. Also he will be buried under pounds of makeup and robes. Interested to see how the Silent Brothers turn out visually.
All the relevant info can be found here as always!
http://www.themortalinstrumentsmovie.com/

What do you think about this newest cast member? Does he fit your vision of Brother Jeremiah? Sound off below!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

CASTING NEWS: Kevin Zegers IS Alec Lightwood

We first heard it from JustJared.com and all us ladies at The Mortal Institute just had a huge podcast discussion about him...now it is official... KEVIN ZEGERS IS ALEC LIGHTWOOD.

We first heard the news on July 26th, and it has been a stall to get Kevin officially signed. Here's the post via Cassie:

So yes, thank goodness, finally, all the paperwork is signed and I can tell you that YES IN FACT, YES ACTUALLY Alec is going to be

Kevin Zegers.
So in fact the gossip sites got it right but at the time there was no signed paperwork and he wasn’t actually cast yet so — there wasn’t anything I could say. Especially after we already had one Alec and lost him. So really I’ve been ripping out my hair since then. I think there are just pieces left.
Kevin was actually one of the first actors approached to play Alec but his schedule didn’t work with the filming originally so they went with someone else; then the scheduling changed once again and it didn’t work for Alec Mark Two, but did work for Kevin. Such are the vagaries of casting.

I’ve always liked Kevin, since Transamerica, and I had him on my website for Sebastian for ages which is funny in retrospect because now I’ve seen him play Alec so I think he’s much too nice for Sebastian.
One of the things I really liked about Kevin was that one of Alec’s audition scenes was the scene where Alec shouts at Clary in City of Bones and tells her she endangered Jace’s life. And a lot of the actors who auditioned played it yelling and really mean so you just thought, boy, Alec. What a jerk that guy is. Kevin played it with a quiet sort of intensity that grew through the scene so you could see through the cracks of the anger and think: wow, this guy is really scared and vulnerable. Because that is the Alec people love.
Also he will not have to wear contacts to get Alec’s baby blues because

he already has them. Which is just a fortunate plus.

So yes, welcome Kevin!

Welcome aboard indeed!! We look forward to seeing you as Alec Lightwood! What are you thoughts? Share them below.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Cassandra Clare talks casting process

Amidst all the questions circling about casting for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, author Cassandra Clare took to Tumblr to clear up what the latest is on casting.

Last week, entertainment gossip site Just Jared put out a rumor that Kevin Zegers was cast to play Alec Lightwood. We all thought it was pretty weird that no one, including Cassie and the studio execs, could confirm this rumor. We've all debated what could have happened to the previous actor that was hinted to by Cassie.

We know now that the first mystery actor was indeed unable to sign for the role due to scheduling conflicts. Whether the latest rumor about Zegers is true or not, Cassie made it clear that she can only confirm the actor when he signs the confirmation letter. Here's Cassie's post in it's entirety:

Well, yes, you shouldn’t trust IMDB. That much is given. (It’s not too bad at the moment though Aidan and CCH Pounder aren’t listed yet. Last week Valentine was listed as being played by someone named Jolene.)

As far as Alec goes, it’s more than just IMDB: rumors are all over. That also happened when Jace was cast. It took a while to separate out what was happening from what wasn’t.

I thought maybe it would help if there was a bit of a breakdown of how this works. Casting is a creative matter (the director, producers, etc. looking at auditions or readings or previous work and deciding) until an offer is made to someone. “Would you like to play Alec?” That does not mean that person is cast. They have to want to play Alec. They have to have their agent negotiate the terms of a deal that everyone is happy with because you do actually get paid to play Alec. Or anyone. :) And you have to promise not to run off in the middle of filming and whatnot. This requires paperwork to be signed by everyone.

The final bit of casting is the “confirmation letter” which everyone signs and once everyone signs it then Alec is cast. Now I generally know that they’re looking at specific people, even a specific someone, but that’s about all I know while the legal department churns through the paperwork. When the confirmation letter is signed, then the studio will generate a press release. When they generate the press release and send it out, THAT is when I am allowed to tell you who Alec is. Usually until the press release goes out, I DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW the answer to the question beyond “they’re in negotiations with someone.”

And I am absolutely and totally and completely not allowed to say who they are in negotiations with, because then I am betraying a trust that has been placed in me not to reveal that, not only by the studio but by the actor (not that they know who I am :D) — it really ought to be their decision, too, about what they want revealed about what they are doing in their career. I don’t, like, want the intimate details of my mortgage payments all over the ‘net, and it’s sort of the same thing.

And it is a good idea to wait until things are confirmed, because false reports aren’t helpful. I know Alec is sort of a sore point (and I still feel bad, believe me) because I said I could announce him and then it turned out I couldn’t: There was a mixup and it was thought the confirmation letter was signed but it wasn’t, because the movie schedule had changed (it changes with every new draft of the script) and suddenly the actor wasn’t sure the new dates would work.

And in fact they didn’t. That actor isn’t going to play Alec. The scheduling didn’t work out. So. It is indeed a good thing I didn’t announce it then, annoying as it was for everyone at the time. I want you to be able to trust me and so not giving you information that may not pan out is important to me. As of this literal moment, I have not gotten the press release/go-ahead to say who Alec is, which means that the confirmation letter isn’t signed. Which means we do not have an official Alec. That could change any second. But I am not witholding information about who has been cast as Alec to be mean (seems pointless, and Variety would just carry the story anyway because they’d get the press release as it is meant for, well, the press). And I can’t tell you when Alec will be announced because it isn’t planned ahead like that: “We will announce Alec on the seventh of August, at nine am!” They wait for the confirmation letter to go through. Asking “When will we have Alec?” is like asking “When will it rain?” or “When will we have a car that runs on dandelions?”

So basically in sum-up, I don’t have an answer to those questions — we will have an Alec, and soon, because they cannot make the movie without him —and I will, as I have always promised, tell you as soon as I am able, and I will give you only the information I know is definitely true.

So, with all this said, what do you think will happen next in casting news? Are you happy with the news so far? Chime in below in the comments box.

Monday, July 30, 2012

CASTING NEWS: AIDAN TURNER IS LUKE

Fangirls are swooning! I know I am! Cassandra Clare just announced that Aidan Turner from Being Human has been cast Luke Garroway in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.

Cassie said: Luke — Clary’s surrogate father figure, he has a hell of a dark past despite his current mild-mannered, bookstore-owning ways. The scars he bears belie his gentle heart —but he could tear you apart with his teeth if you threatened something he cared about. Holly has long insisted Luke is her Fictional Boyfriend, so today, Holly, you have won: Aidan Turner. He was terrific in Being Human and there’s massive buzz about his upcoming role in the Hobbit. He’s Irish so perhaps he and Robert Sheehan can sit around and talk about Irish things. Looking more the flannel-shirt wearing Luke we know and love. Harald was so excited to work with him he was hopping around. I’m pretty excited about him playing Luke myself! Welcome Aidan!
Filming begins August 20 in Toronto. What do you think of Aidan as Luke? Sound off below!

CASTING NEWS: Madame Dorothea

CCH Pounder is Madame Dorothea!

Madame Dorothea was a lot of fun to write, according to City of Bones author Cassandra Clare. "She’s Clary’s downstairs neighbor and a “witch” — the kind with crystal balls and Tarot cards. Her secret is that none of that magic is at all real: it’s a cover for the powerful position she actually does hold in the secret society of Downworlders."

You may know her from The Shield. Or The X-Files. Or Warehouse 13. Or ER. Or The West Wing. Or pretty much every cool show in the known universe. "Our director’s wanted to work with her for ages and I think she will be amazing," Cassie said.

I'm beyond excited by this casting, but what do you think? Sound off below!

City of Bones Cast...so far

Filming for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones begins in less than a month in Toronto and we're all eagerly anticipating the last remaining bit of news regarding the cast. Only a few characters' shoes are left to fill.

We have Lily Collins in the role of Clary, Jamie Campbell Bower in the role of Jace, Jemima West as Isabelle, Robert Sheehan as Simon, Godfrey Gao as Magnus Bane, Lena Headey in the role of Jocelyn, Jared Harris as Hodge, Robert Maillet as Blackwell and Kevin Durand in the role of Pangborn.

Rumours about Alec will be clarified soon, Luke will be announced, Eric; Simon's friend and bandmate and of course Valentine!

Who do you think will be announced first? Who do you think will get the parts? Chime in below in the comments box. I'd love to hear what you're all thinking!