CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT - Hulu's "Looking For Alaska"

Looking For Alaska – casting announcement: 

Hulu’s upcoming (8-episode) limited series, Looking For Alaska, announces additional series regulars: Denny Love, Jay Lee, Landry Bender, Sofia Vassilieva, Uriah Shelton, and Jordan Connor. They join previously announced series regulars, Kristine Froseth and Charlie Plummer. The series comes from Paramount Television and Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage’s Fake Empire. 

Logline: The series is based on the John Green novel of the same name. It is told through the eyes of teenager Miles “Pudge” Halter (Plummer), as he enrolls in boarding school to try to gain a deeper perspective on life. He falls in love with a girl, Alaska Young (Froseth), and after her unexpected death, he and his close friends attempt to uncover the truth behind her death and make sense of it. 

Savage and Schwartz will serve as executive producers, alongside Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Green and Marty Bowen and Isaac Klausner of Temple Hill. Fake Empire exec Lis Rowinski will co-executive produce. Sarah Adina Smith (“Hanna” and “Legion”) will direct the pilot.

Character descriptions:

• Denny Love as ‘The Colonel’ – short (and very smart) muscular tank of a young man. The Colonel (his real name is Chip Martin) is a scholarship student and under orders from his mother to get a good enough education. He’s an enemy of the lacrosse jocks (aka “The Weekday Warriors”), and regards Alaska, Miles, and Takumi as his friends. He’s insanely loyal to his friends.
• Jay Lee as ‘Takumi’ – A member of "The Colonel’s" group of outcasts, he's famous for knowing all the gossip and effortlessly bounces back between the two groups of friends but is ever loyal to The Colonel and Alaska.

• Landry Bender as ‘Sara’ – The Colonel's girlfriend, she is also short and angry – but her rage is only directed at The Colonel because he manages to do something that pisses her off pretty much every time they interact. She and The Colonel are one of those bickering couples, who spend their lives hollering at each other.

• Sofia Vassilieva as ‘Lara’ – A cute, shy and sweet girl from Romania, who develops a crush on Miles.
• Uriah Shelton as ‘Longwell’ – A handsome, rich and entitled jock (aka a “Weekday Warrior” douchebag) at the school. A rich kid, he despises The Colonel and all of his non-jock friends, making their lives as miserable as possible.

• Jordan Connor as ‘Kevin’ – Longwell’s acolyte (and not so bright friend), Kevin is another “Weekday Warrior” lacrosse bro. He follows Longwell’s lead in everything and blames The Colonel when a member of their clique gets expelled.

Bios 

• Denny Love’s credits include roles on NBC’s (Chicago PD) a recurring role on FOX’s (Empire), CBS’s (The Neighborhood), Spectrum’s (LA’s Finest) and Netflix’s (Lucifer). He continues to perform standup comedy as well as sketch comedy. 
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• Jay Lee is a graduate of USC’s School of Dramatic Arts. He participated in the CBS diversity showcase in 2018, displaying his skills as actor and magician.  He went on to join the cast of the subversive Netflix series, “American Vandal” as Tanner Bassett.

• Landry Bender’s first starring role came in 2011 when she played opposite Jonah Hill in the feature film, “The Sitter.”  From there she moved on to the Disney Channel to top-line buddy comedy, “Best Friends Whenever” and most recently played the sarcastic, edgy Rocki on “Fuller House.” 

• Sofia Vassilieva recently appeared on The CW’s “Supergirl,” indie feature “Bad Stepmother,” and “Training Day.” She received rave reviews for her performance in “My Sister’s Keeper” opposite Cameron Diaz and Alec Baldwin, as well as in the acclaimed Lifetime feature “Call Me Crazy.” She began her television career on the CBS series “Medium.” 

• Uriah Shelton’s regular role credits include “The Glades”, “Blue”, “Girl Meets World” and a recurring role in “13 Reasons Why.” 

• Jordan Connor is best known for his recurring guest star role as “Sweet Pea” on the hit show, “Riverdale,” which has garnered him over 1 Million followers on Instagram.