It would seem that casting news for Young Adult Hollywood revolves around just a few hot and very in-demand names, and what a busy bunch they are! But because things change in showbiz faster than you can say ‘Kstew is the new (insert latest rumor here)!’, the names on that list are changing all the time. So to that end, we here at YA Mag will undertake the hefty task of keeping you up to date each month on who’s playing what, who’s not, and who should. The roles and stars everyone can’t stop talking about are all here…
First and foremost let’s start off with a name that’s been hot on everyone’s lips for over a year now: Shailene Woodley. After her more-than-attention-getting performance in The Descendants alongside George Clooney (if there were an Oscar for Best Underwater Performance, Shailene would’ve nailed it), the strikingly beautiful and talented Woodley has been tapped for three much talked-about and coveted roles. The biggest of them, of course, is Mary Jane Watson in the next Amazing Spiderman installment—this role hasn’t been played since that old broad Kirsten Dunst last did it way back in 2007 for the third time. Needless to say, getting a superhero-sized female lead is huge for the young actress, and the blogosphere has chimed its vigorous approval. But since all good things come in threes, the other two films to look out for featuring Shailene are The Fault in Our Stars (this one isn’t totally confirmed yet though, as seen below), and of course the highly-anticipated film adaptation of the YA blockbuster Divergent! (more on that here!) |
Next up is perhaps the most in-demand young starlet in the YA film world, the lovely Chloe Grace Moretz.  Her IMDB page looks like she’s having a red letter day, with a total of nine projects in pre-production, filming, or almost completed. The most exciting of which, naturally, is the upcoming Carrie remake, sadly pushed back from the pre-prom date of March 15 to the pre-Halloween date of October 18. Look for Moretz as the sensitive and dangerously telekinetic teen Carrie White in this update of the Stephen King classic, plus the brilliant Julianne Moore as her completely psychotic bible-beating mother. Moretz’s  other notable films from the long list include Kick-Ass 2, the follow-up to the spoof that put her on the map, as well as The Drummer, a rock n roll biography of one of the Beach Boys.Rumored to be in competition with Shailene Woodley for the lead role in the cancer patient romantic tearjerker The Fault in Our Stars is Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld, another actress that has a very full plate right now. Another big chunk? The hotly anticipated film adaptation of Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, which features a stellar cast including Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis and Abigail Breslin, as well as an update to the original YA love story: Romeo & Juliet. Last but certainly not least amongst the ladies, we have the newest Best Actress Oscar Winner, the luminous Jennifer Lawrence! Since starring opposite Bradley Cooper  worked very well for her in Silver Linings Playbook, she’s doing it again in Serena, a Depression-era period piece in which she plays the barren wife to Bradley’s timber industry tycoon. And then of course there’s that sequel coming up, one that’s sure to ‘catch fire’…
Speaking of Catching Fire, lets not forget the YA boys. Our very own Gale Hawthorne, aka
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—DH