The JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS Stars Are Announced
I've spoken at length about my concerns with the new Jem and the Holograms movie, so suffice it to say I'm not loving the way this is shaking out. With that out of the way, I'm not sweating this casting of Jem and her Holograms too much, mostly because I don't know who any of these women are. Let's be optimists and assume they're all great and perfectly suited for their roles. They're nice to look at and have good ingenue names and I have no reason to suspect they won't do a fine job.
Jem/Jerrica Benton will be played by Nashville actress Aubrey Peeples. Here's what that will look like:
Jerrica's sister Kimber Benton, the synth player, will be played by Stefanie Scott, from No Strings Attached and Disney's A.N.T. Farm. Here's what that will look like:
Aja Leith, the Holograms' guitarist, will be played by The Fosters' Hayley Kiyoko, and here's what that will look like:
Bassist Shana Elmsford will be played by the amazingly named Aurora Perrineau of Pretty Little Liars (and yes, she's Harold Perrineau's daughter). That will look like this:
No word yet on Raya Alonso. Poor Raya's always the afterthought. Is she even going to be in this movie? Every band needs a drummer!
Now, if I were bound and determined to hate this project, I'd say something about how all of these actresses look like bland, random Disney Channel products and I have no idea if any of them can even act. But I'm actually not determined to hate it, no matter how much I might mouth off on it. So here's what I'll say instead: I appreciate that the film casting is as diverse as the original characters dictate, and every picture of Hayley Kiyoko looks pretty punk rock, and since Aja was always my favorite anyway, I will allow it.
Jem and the Holograms, directed by Jon M. Chu, is already shooting, which feels insane and also makes me think that Raya is definitely not in the film. Maybe Shana will play the drums instead of the bass? She started playing drums before Raya took over on the series, at which point Shana switched to bass, so I guess it's possible.
And let this be the post where I out myself as a person who knows far too much about the band Jem and the Holograms.
Update: Drew Dietsch in the comments posted this pic from Chu's Twitter:
