Coming on the heels of Ed Westwick’s casting gig on Showtime’s dark comedy-drama, Californication, where he’ll be playing a student of David Duchovny’s Hank with a fascination for vampire lit in the second episode of season 3, the Gossip Girl star has signed on to star in the big screen adaptation of Emily Bronte’s 19th century novel, Wuthering Heights.
Though this will be Westwick’s biggest film to date, this isn’t his first. He has appeared in sci-fi thriller Children of Men, the Jude Law romance thriller Breaking and Entertaining, the family drama Son of Rambow, the horror movie 100 Feet, and most recently, the mystery thriller, S. Darko.
In Wuthering Heights, Westwick, who plays bad boy Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl, will take on the role of Heathcliff – a character who is regarded in the novel as a prime example of the tortured Romantic Byronic hero whose all-consuming passions destroy both himself and those around him. Stepping in the role of Cathy, Heathcliff’s love interest, is none other than Gemma Arterton, who is perhaps most famous for her role in Quantum of Solace. Arterton has been officially cast following a series of setbacks, including leading lady Natalie Portman dropping out of the project.
Peter Webber, who is credited for Six Feet Under, will direct the film, which he calls a “powerful, moving and dangerous love story that cries out to be told on the big screen.”
Robert Bernstein, on the other hand, will serve as the producer.
“We’ve cast it as written. Heathcliff’s a teen, and the story takes him into his early 20s. Cathy is just as young. It’s radical because usually actors playing these characters are much older,” said Bernstein, who is ecstatic with the casting choice. “We’re very proud to have British actors.”
Wuthering Heights is expected to start production later this year.
-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: hollyscoop.com, sfgate.com
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
