Fifty Shades Darker Ropes in Bella Heathcote to Play Christian Grey’s Ex

Bella Heathcote will play Leila in the upcoming sequel, Fifty Shades Darker

Bella Heathcote, star of this weekend’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has joined the cast of the upcoming sequel to Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker. Deadline reports that Bella Heathcote will play the novel’s Leila, an ex-lover of Christian Grey who still carries the emotional (and physical) scars of their relationship.

An erotically charged romance, the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise has capitalized on it’s naughty-but-not-too-naughty aesthetic to the tune of more than $570 million worldwide. On-set conflict between author E L James and the first film’s director Sam Taylor-Johnson, however, led to Taylor-Johnson and screenwriter Kelly Marcel opting not return for the sequel. James Foley will instead direct Fifty Shades Darker, which will be penned by E L James’ husband, Niall Leonard.

Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson are set to return as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in both Fifty Shades Darker and a third film, Fifty Shades Freed. Kim Basinger will play Elena Lincoln, who introduced Grey to the world of BDSM. Expanding upon the events set in motion in Fifty Shades of Grey, the films will again aim to become the motion-picture events for Valentine’s Day 2017 and 2018. Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti, alongside E L James, the creator of the series, also return to produce.

Perhaps best-known for her role as Victoria Winters in Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows, Heathcote will be part of the menagerie of young women in Nicolas Winding Refn’s upcoming horror film The Neon Demon.

What do you think of Bella Heathcote as Leila? Was there anyone else you would have picked for the role? Let us know in the comments below!

(Photo credit: WENN.com)

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