HBO’s Game of Thrones series is proving to be a nice stepping stone for actors on their way to the big screen, with Rose Leslie becoming the latest cast member to transition from the Emmy-nominated series to feature-film projects.
After playing the wildling Ygritte for several seasons on Game of Thrones, Leslie will join The Fast and the Furious star Vin Diesel in The Last Witch Hunter, an upcoming supernatural adventure directed by Breck Eisner (The Crazies). According to The Hollywood Reporter, Leslie will play a witch and the love interest of Diesel’s character in the film.
In The Last Witch Hunter, an immortal witch hunter (Diesel) is forced to team up with a female witch (Leslie) in order to stop a deadly witch queen from locating a relic that will unleash a plague upon humanity. The original screenplay for the film was penned by Priest screenwriter Cory Goodman, and was later revised by Oscar-nominated Dallas Buyers Club screenwriter Melisa Wallack. The film is expected to begin shooting in Pittsburgh next month.
For those who might not be Game Of Thrones viewers, Leslie was also a primary cast member in the first season of BBC’s highly successful Downton Abbey, in which she played housemaid Gwen Dawson, who strives to leave a life of service. Her character departed the series at the end of the first season when she was hired as a secretary — which some might consider a far better (and certainly less painful) end than her Game Of Thrones character received.
There’s no release date set for The Last Witch Hunter at this point.
