Steven Spielberg Casts Young Lead in THE BFG
One thing that Steven Spielberg has always been really great at is casting amazingly talented kids in his film productions. From Henry Thomas in E.T. to Christian Bale in The Empire of the Sun, he knows good young talent when he sees it. He has recently cast 10-year-old newcomer Ruby Barnhill from Cheshire England to take on the lead role in his upcoming film project The BFG.
In a statement about the casting, Spielberg said,
“I feel Roald Dahl himself would have found Ruby every bit as marvelous as we do. We have discovered a wonderful Sophie in Ruby Barnhill.”
Barnhill added,
“I feel incredibly lucky and I’m so happy. Sophie gets to go on this wonderful adventure and I’m so excited that I get to play her.”
The actress joins Mark Rylance, who was previously cast as the Big Friendly Giant character. The story is based on a 1982 book written by Roald Dahl. The film will tell the story of “a young London girl and the world’s only benevolent giant who introduces her to the beauty and peril of Giant Country. The two set off on an adventure (with the aid of the Queen of England) to capture the evil, man-eating giants who have been invading the human world.”
This is going to be a great project for Spielberg, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with it. He’s is set to begin production early in the new year, and Disney will release it on July 1st, 2016.
Source: Deadline