Androgynous Australian model Andrej Pejic is the first person to be cast in Sofia Coppola‘s much-anticipated version of The Little Mermaid. The film’s recently updated IMDb page lists the Bosnian-born, Australian-raised 22-year-old as “Sister #4” for the live-action adaptation of the Disney classic, based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale.
Pejic, who models both men’s and women’s apparel, has dabbled in acting before with roles in TV series Faith, short film Reason and a cameo in David Bowie’s 2013 music video for The Stars (Are Out Tonight), but this will be the controversial model’s first time in film.
With Coppola’s Oscar-winning depiction of the world in previous films like The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antionette, plus screenwriting by Caroline Thompson (think Edward Scissorhands and The Addams Family) and, of course, Pejic’s androgynous aesthetic, we’re expecting something very different for the Disney princess fairytale that we were so fond of in our childhood.
But who needs a cartoon mermaid singing amongst her hoarded goods while brushing her hair with a fork when we’ve got this talented lineup? With no release date revealed just yet, all we can do is wait and see what this highly acclaimed team will bring.
