Heat Vision is reporting 19-year-old Winter’s Bone star Jennifer Lawrence has joined the cast of X-Men: First Class as the yellow-eyed, red-haired shape-shifting vixen Mystique, the role previously played by Rebecca Romijn in the first trilogy of films. Amber Heard (Zombieland) was previously rumored for the role. This easily points to Lawrence’s rising star as she is currently among the names being considered by Oscar pundits for a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her Winter’s Bone performance (my review).
Lawrence is just the latest to join the cast, which is actually looking quite impressive. earlier rumor that director Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass star Aaron Johnson will reunite with the helmer and play the role of Cyclops.
Lawrence, Bacon and Johnson join previously announced cast members including James McAvoy as Professor Charles Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Alice Eve as Emma Frost, Nicholas Hoult as Beast, Caleb Landry Jones as Banshee and Lucas Till as Havok. The film charts the origins of X-Men saga as Charles Xavier (McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Fassbender) go from discovering their powers to becoming archenemies.
The movie is expected to begin shooting late this summer in London for a June 3, 2011 release.
All that said, I will now leave you with a video featuring Jennifer Lawrence during her Esquire photo shoot.
