‘Fox has cast “Riverdale” star K.J. Apa in its drama “The Hate U Give,” by Angela Thomas two months after the studio dropped Kian Lawley from the project over videos that surfaced in which he uttered racist slurs.
Fox 2000 has authorized more than a week of re-shoots in Atlanta. Lawley was set to play the boyfriend of the film’s star, Amandla Stenberg, in the film, which centers on race and police brutality. He was fired from the project on Feb. 5.
The role of the boyfriend is a key component of “The Hate U Give,” which also stars Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Algee Smith, Lamar Johnson, and Common. Stenberg plays a 16-year-old girl named Starr who grew up in a poverty-stricken area but now attends a suburban prep school. After she witnesses a police officer shot her unarmed best friend, she’s torn between her two very different worlds as she tries to speak her truth.
Bob Teitel and Marty Bowen are producing. George Tillman Jr. is directing from Audrey Wells’ script.
Apa is repped by UTA, Red11 Management, and Luber Roklin Entertainment. The news was first reported by Deadline.’
Via Variety
The Book to Screen Club 