EXCLUSIVE: Up and coming British actress Charlotte Riley (Easy Virtue, World Without End) has been cast in Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow’s true story tale In The Heart Of The Sea, which Ron Howard is directing from a script by Charles Leavitt. Riley’s coming off another big WB pic, the Doug Liman-directed Edge of Tomorrow, opposite Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. In Howard’s Moby Dick-esque drama Riley will play Peggy, the beautiful and pregnant wife of Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth), a crew member aboard the whaling ship Essex. When the ship is attacked by a sperm whale, a group of survivors stay afloat for 90 days enduring disease, starvation and eventual cannibalism. Riley is repped by CAA and Conway Van Gelder Grant.
Cheyenne Jackson (United 93, Behind the Candelabra) has landed the lead in indie drama The Song. He’ll play Ben Cantor, a man who bets it all to enter a songwriting contest reality show against the better judgment of his wife, boss, and banker. Andy Lauer is directing the pic from a script by David Kauffman. Kauffman is producing alongside Page Brown. Jackson is set to sing original songs in the music-themed pic, which begins filming this month in San Antonio, NM. He’s repped by ICM and The Schiff Company.