EXCITING NEWS. An exclusive from Variety reports that a bunch of actors will be testing for the roles of Jared and Ian in the coming days. Pretty much all of these actors aren’t of the typical “dream cast” of The Host fans, but that shouldn’t cause too much worry since the list of contenders is made up of quite a few great up and coming actors. Read the full article below!

Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Host’ zeroes in on male leads
Clutch of thesps vying for roles opposite Saoirse Ronan
By JEFF SNEIDER

With the beginning of the end in sight for “The Twilight Saga,” author Stephenie Meyer is turning her attention to the casting search for “The Host,” Andrew Niccol’s feature adaptation of her sci-fi novel.
Saoirse Ronan (“Hanna”) is attached to star as protag Melanie Stryder, whose body is invaded by an alien named Wanderer, who will also be played by Ronan. In the coming days, producers will begin testing actors for the pic’s two male leads.

Liam Hemsworth (“The Hunger Games”), Kit Harington (“Game of Thrones”), Jai Courtney (“One Shot”) and Max Irons (“Red Riding Hood”) will test for the role of Jared, Melanie’s boyfriend. Dane DeHaan (“In Treatment”), Thomas McDonnell (“Prom”), Augustus Prew (“The Borgias”) and Ronan’s “Lovely Bones” co-star Jake Abel will test for the role of Ian, a menacing young man who brutalizes Wanderer before falling in love with her.

Chockstone Pictures principals Steve Schwartz and Paula Mae Schwartz are producing with Nick Wechsler and Meyer. Inferno’s Marc Butan, Jim Seibel and Bill Johnson will exec produce, while Roger Schwartz will co-produce. “The Host” is being financed by the producers and Inferno, which is handling sales.

Of the lists above, who would you like to see in the roles of Jared and Ian? Do you think these actors have what it takes to play our favourite male leads?

This interview is from a few days ago (May 12th) and therefore doesn’t have any new information for us regarding the movie. However, Saoirse did give a bit of insight into her feelings about the project (the brief Host section starts around 3:26):

SS: There’s been news in the paper today about you being in The Host movie, [based on] Stephenie Meyer’s novel. Is that true?

Saoirse: Um, it’s not false.

SS: It’s not confirmed?

Saoirse: It’s not confirmed, and nothing’s actually been finalized, so we’re talking about it to the people who are involved. It’s different from Twilight as well which is good, you know, it’s a different type of story. So yes, hopefully it will work out.

Bravo for Saoirse’s understanding that though Twilight fans and Host fans do overlap, they aren’t necessarily one in the same. Also, don’t you just love her Irish brogue?

In an interview today with Scottish news site NEWS.scotsman.com, Saoirse Ronan was still non-committal about her potential role in The Host:

Ronan is as excitable as any teen, chatting about her dog Sassy, a concert she’s going to, and waves her new nail-polish at me, which is a vivid green. But she’s aware of her clout too; earlier that day it was reported that she’s to star in a movie called The Host, based on a novel by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. “Oh, that’s not right,” corrects Ronan in a matter-of-fact manner. “That deal’s still to be locked down.”

With the Cannes Film Festival happening as we speak (where The Host will purportedly be promoted), we should be getting some actual news any time now. We’ll keep you posted. Hang in there, Host fans!

Saoirse Ronan has announced to the Belfast Telegraph, in an article published this Thursday, that she will not be taking a part in ‘The Hobbit’ movie adaptation:

Saoirse Ronan has revealed she will not be playing woodland elf Itaril in ‘The Hobbit.’

The Hanna star had been in talks to star in ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ prequel, directed by Peter Jackson, who she worked with on ‘The Lovely Bones,’ but has now signed up to star in ‘The Host.’

Saoirse revealed: “It’s probably not going to work out with ‘The Hobbit’ unfortunately.

“Because I would have been working for about a year on it and there were other projects that I was very interested in, but Pete and [his producer wife] Fran have been very good about it and very understanding.

Looks like ‘The Hobbit’ has lost out, but to our benefit!

Note: There is interview from IndieLondon circulating around The Host fansites. In this interview Saoirse Ronan said regarding her casting in ‘The Host’ that, “Nothing is actually for definite yet.” This interview does not have a date on it, however, and may be been done before Ronan’s casting became official. Also, it is important to note that Deadline, who announced the casting, is a very reliable source. Therefore, the information from from IndieLondon should be viewed with skepticism.

It is important to remember that nothing is set in stone until we get an official casting announcement from Chockstone Pictures or Ronan’s representation.

While promoting her new movie Hanna in a twitter chat today with Glamour UK, Saoirse received a Host related question from TwilightMoms. The Tweet speaks for itself:

So, while “I’d love to be involved. Let’s hope” is not a rock-solid confirmation that she will be playing the part, it also doesn’t mean that the news of her casting is rumor. Actors generally wait for the ink to dry on the contracts before saying anything publicly about parts. At the end of her chat, she also confirmed her Twitter ID @saoirse_ronan. You can find the entire twitter chat log here. Exciting!