'Outer Banks' Favorite to Star in New Musical Feature Film
Outer Banks star Chase Stokes just scored a big movie role. He will star in Music Got Me Here, a film based on the story of Virginia high school music teacher Tom Sweitzer. Irwin Winkler, the Oscar-winning producer of Rocky, co-wrote the screenplay.
Music Got Me Here will focus on Sweitzer's connection to a former student, Forrest Allen, who is left in a coma after a snowboarding accident. Sweitzer emerged as Allen's only hope for recovery after the young man's family asks Sweitzer to help with music therapy. They hope he can reach their son. The story was previously told in Susan Koch's documentary of the same name. Stokes will play Allen.
"It's very rare for a story like this to come along," director Gurinder Chadha said in a statement to Deadline. "Based on true-life events, I was gripped by the script and the documentary of the journey of Forrest and Tom and how powerful a family's love can be to turn things around. Chase Stokes is an exciting young actor who I believe has the vulnerability and emotion to convey the real depths of human despair and the exhilarating heights of relief and happiness the film explores. Add the amazing power of music and an inspiring soundtrack and you have a film that I believe will touch people all over the world."
Music Got Me Here was written by Winkler with Jose Ruisanchez. Winkler will produce with Jon Levin and Alexandra Milchan. Chadha earned a BAFTA nomination in 2003 for directing and co-writing Bend It Like Beckham. Chadha recently directed another movie about the power of music, Blinded by the Light, which tells the story of a British-Pakistani student whose life changes after he discovers Bruce Springsteen's music.
Stokes, 29, is a Netflix favorite. He started his career with an episode of Stranger Things in 2016 and now has a lead role in the streamer's hit series Outer Banks. He plays John B. Routledge, the leader of the Pogues group of working-class locals. The show's second season was released in July 2021, and a third season is now in development. Stokes "embodies the fierceness and humor that lives in my heart and the spirit that helped me never ever give up hope," Allen told Deadline.