Rising British star Douglas Booth has fought off 300 hopefuls to bag a lead role in Italian director Carlo Carlei's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, Variety reports.
The 19-year-old actor – who previously featured in TV series The Pillars of the Earth and will play Pip in a forthcoming BBC Great Expectations also starring Ray Winstone – has been cast opposite Hailee Steinfeld, nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar on the back of her performance as Mattie Ross in True Grit.
Ed Westwick (Tybalt) and 15-year-old Kodi Smit-McPhee (Benvolio) strengthen an authentically youthful cast – Shakespeare originally intended the character of Juliet to be only 13. The Incredibles's Holly Hunter will play the Nurse, Juliet's forthright companion.
Carlei's project – the latest in a long line of adaptations featuring Franco Zeffirelli's cherished 1968 classic and Baz Luhrmann's 1996 update – is boosted by the presence of Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes as scriptwriter and co-producer. The film has been scheduled for a 2012 release date.
