Hulu’s adaptation of John Green’s popular novel Looking for Alaska has cast its lead roles.
The author announced on Tuesday via his Twitter account that Kristine Froseth (Sierra Burgess is a Loser) and Charlie Plummer (Lean on Pete) have been cast in the lead roles of Alaska Young and Miles “Pudge” Halter.
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“This has been (over!) 13 years in the making, and I am so excited,” Green wrote on Twitter. “I am so grateful that LFA has an enthusiastic readership all these years after its publication. I know people have strong casting opinions, but I’d ask you to remember that the people who’ve been cast are human beings (and young ones), so please be kind if/when tagging them.”
“(Also, a friendly reminder that I do not cast movies or limited series adaptations on Hulu. But I did get to see both of these actors’ auditions, and they are both truly brilliant and embody the characters to me. They’re both also fans of the book, which is nice!),” he continued.
“I spoke to Kristine and Charlie on the phone yesterday and it was really special to have a conversation with the people who will become Miles and Alaska,” Green wrote in a subsequent tweet. “I’m so grateful to them and to everyone involved with the Looking for Alaska series. It’s all starting to feel very real!”
Published in 2005, the novel, Green’s first, tells the story of Pudge, who meets the mysterious Alaska after he enrolls in a boarding school in order to “seek a Great Perhaps,” something he began searching for after reading the words of François Rabelais. Pudge finds himself falling in love with the beautiful, unpredictable, and troubled Alaska, who guides him through his own “labyrinth of suffering” until a tragic event forces him to continue the journey on his own.
According to a synopsis from Hulu, the series will follow a very similar storyline.
“Looking for Alaska 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,” the synopsis reads, according to Deadline. “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.”
The project will mark the third novel-to-screen adaptation for one of Green’s books, with The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns having been made into films in 2014 and 2015.
Hulu’s eight-episode adaptation of Looking For Alaska is expected to premiere sometime in 2019.
