NEED TO KNOW
- Esther McGregor & Emilio Sakraya have reportedly joined the highly anticipated TV adaptation of Fourth Wing as Violet Sorrengail and Xaden Riorsen
- The five-book Empyrean series is being turned into a TV Show with Amazon MGM Studios and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society.
- Amazon declined to comment on the news which appears to have been leaked by an insider.
Since the news was announced that Rebecca Yarros’ bestselling fantasy romance series, Fourth Wing, is being adapted into a TV series, fans have been busy theorising who will be cast in their beloved character’s roles. Now, we finally have news on the casting of Violet Sorrengail and Xaden Riorsen. Praise Be!
On October 15th Deadline revealed that Esther McGregor would play our heroine Violet, and Emilio Sakraya would take on the role of heartthrob Xaden. There is no formal confirmation from Amazon, who declined to comment on the leak.
The five-book Empyrean series, which was only released in mid-2023, went viral on BookTok and soon became a New York Times best seller. In January of this year, the third installment, Onyx Storm, was released and swiftly became the fastest-selling adult novel in two decades.
Now, the beloved series is being turned into a TV Show with Amazon MGM Studios and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society. And, fans (it’s us, we’re the fans) have been eagerly awaiting any and all details the TV powers that be will give.
What Is Fourth Wing About?
Fourth Wing follows 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail, who is forced by her mother to give up her dream of becoming a scribe and instead, train to become a dragon rider at the brutal Basgiath War College.
The story has everything you could want in a fantasy romance novel, including an enemies-to-lovers storyline, captivating worldbuilding and of course, lots of magic.
Who Is Cast In The Fourth Wing TV Adaption?
Our first casting news is here with the reveal of Esther McGregor as Violet Sorengail and Emilio Sakraya as Xaden Riorsen. However, this is the only casting news for the TV adaptation so far.
With our leads now revealed, it’s only a matter of time before the remaining cast will follow. Fans are particularly invested in the casting of characters like Dain Aetos and Rhiannon Matthias, who play key supporting roles in the first book of the Empyrean series.
Prior to the news, Yarros had given us a hint about who will be playing Violet’s love interest, Xaden.
“We’re just going to say he’s POC; we’re just going to leave it at that,” Yarros told Variety. “I didn’t rise to the bait of a lot of those posts, which I think probably got me some flack, but I knew we were already in development for TV, and I want to make sure that role is open to as much diversity as possible. So I was never going to give the readers my vision because I know that once you give the readers your vision, that’s what they’re gonna stick to. And I wanted to make sure we left it open to as much diversity as possible.”
In October 2024, Yarros doubled down on her castign requirements in an audience Q&A session, saying, “They know how staunch I am against whitewashing Xaden, and so I think that’s the biggest thing.”
German actor Sakraya had long been a fan favourite to be cast as the Duke of Tyrrendor, Xaden, with the 30-year-old often fanning the flames of speculation with cryptic Instagram posts many believed hinted he would take the role.
Fans seem to like Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, Freddie Thorp and Brenton Thwaites in the role of Dain, Violet’s childhood best friend. Other names of mention have also included Josh Hutcherson, Charlie Rowe, and Dacre Montgomery. When it comes to Violet’s best friend at the Riders Quadrant at Basgiath War College, fans are torn between Tati Gabrielle, Ella Balinska and Amandla Stenberg.
Keep checking back here for the real cast list, once it’s announced.
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