Pella Kågerman And Hugo Lilja’s ‘Egghead Republic’ Casts Tyler Labine, Ella Rae Rappaport & Arvin Kananian; Production Begins In Sweden
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EXCLUSIVE: Tyler Labine (New Amsterdam), Ella Rae Rappaport (Alone In Space), and Arvin Kananian (Triangle of Sadness) have signed on to star in Egghead Republic, the latest feature from Swedish directing duo Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja (Aniara).
Labine and Rappaport will play the two leads in the pic, which is currently shooting on the island of Gotland in Sweden. The main cast is rounded out by Arvin Kananian (Triangle of Sadness), Andrew Lowery, and Emma Creed.
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Other main cast includes Gina Diwari, Andrew Lowery (Buffy the vampire slayer, My Boyfriend’s Back), Milan Dragisic (Äta Sova Dö), and producer Emma Creed in her first acting role.
Based in part on Kågerman’s experience working for Vice Magazine and the novel Die Gelehrtenrepublik by Arno Schmidt, the pic takes place in an alternative reality where the cold war did not end, and an atomic bomb has struck Soviet Kazakstan. A young Swedish club kid — working at one of the hippest magazines in the world — is handed the reporting assignment from the restricted zone.
Rappaport will star as Sonja, the young Swedish club kid given the assignment to go report from the nuclear bomb detonation site while Labine will play Dino, the magazine owner.
Kågerman and Lilja also wrote the pic. Nina Lund is producing for You Saved Me AB. Co-producers are Film Stockholm, Gotland Film Fund, and Film i Dalarna. NonStop Entertainment is also co-producing and will distribute in the Nordics. The film also received support from The Swedish Film Institute.
“We’re totally blown away by the cast. Their performances are way beyond our highest expectations. They’re actually so good we feel like we more or less have no job to do,” Kågerman and Lilja said.
Rappaport added: “It’s beyond exciting to step into this world Pella and Hugo have built that is wacky but also very realistic. I’ve never been part of something with such complex characters that have so much darkness but also comedy.”
Labine currently stars on the NBC series New Amsterdam and can be seen in the new season of the BBC America series Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. On the big screen, he has starred alongside Alan Tudyk in the cult horror-comedy Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Rise of The Planet of The Apes, and Sony Pictures’ Escape Room.
Ella Rae Rapapport is a Swedish actress. Her credits include the theatrical family feature Alone in Space and the TV series Lust. Kananian is a Swedish actor best known for Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja’s debut feature film Aniara for which he was nominated Stockholm Rising Star at the Stockholm film festival, and Ruben Östlund’s Palm d’Or winning Triangle of Sadness.
Labine added: “I am so excited to be doing something so unique and fresh. A character this dynamic and deliciously despicable doesn’t come along very often. Maybe once or twice in an actors career if they are lucky. The film sits right on the edge of insanity and never eases up. I love it! That’s my sweet spot. This cast is so special and I’m super proud of the work we’ve done here. Pella and Hugo are amazingly talented and have such a bright future in film and I’m honored to be a part of their trajectory.”
Tyler is repped by Artists First, Verve and attorney Jamie Mandelbaum.
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