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Jem is her name, no one else is the same.
In her first major film role, Nashville actress Aubrey Peeples has been cast as the lead, Jem, in the live-action Jem and the Holograms film, which is being directed by Jon M. Chu.
The Holograms have also been cast: Stefanie Scott, who starred on Disney’s A.N.T. Farm, will play Jem’s sister, Kimber; Pretty Little Liars actress Aurora Perrineau will play Shana; and The Fosters ‘ Hayley Kiyoko has been cast as Aja.
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Based on the 1980s Hasbro toy line that was also a beloved cartoon, the film will be produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions, Scooter Braun Productions and Chu. The film has been moving along quite quickly, and is already shooting.
The cartoon ran from 1985 to 1988 and chronicled the adventures of Jerrica Benton and her alter ego, Jem, a singer who fronted a band called The Holograms. When the project was first announced on March 20, producers said Jem is being reimagined “for a whole new generation with themes of being true to who you are in a multitasking, hyperlinked social media age.”
Ryan Landels wrote the script, which, per the producers, centers on an orphaned teenage girl who becomes an online recording sensation. She and her sisters embark on a music-driven scavenger hunt — one that sends them on an adventure across Los Angeles in an attempt to unlock a final message left by her father.
The production has been encouraging fan involvement through every step of the process, taking fan submissions for roles in the film and showing off fan-made art on its Tumblr. (See the first official art for the film below.)
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Peeples, who will star as Jem (aka as Jerrica), has shown off her musical skills by starring on the ABC show Nashville as Layla Grant. Her career so far has mostly been in TV, with roles on Grey’s Anatomy and Necessary Roughness. She’s repped by Abrams Artists Agency and Snow Entertainment.
Scott is best known for her role on the Disney Channel’s A.N.T. Farm. She’s repped by Gersh and More/Medavoy Management.
Perrineau, repped by APA, Freeze Frame Entertainment and Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, is a relative newcomer. She appeared on an episode of ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars and and was in the film A House Is Not a Home.
Kiyoko appeared on ABC Family’s The Fosters, and her past work includes roles on Wizards of Waverly Place and The Vampire Diaries. She has an upcoming role in the indie Hello, My Name Is Frank and is repped by AKA Talent Agency, Principato-Young Entertainment and Hirsch Wallerstein.
Email: Rebecca.Ford@thr.com
Twitter: @Beccamford
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