Stefania LaVie Owen Joins Netflix’s ‘Sweet Tooth’ As Shooting Is Underway In New Zealand

Peter White
·2 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Stefania LaVie Owen, who has starred in Netflix’s Messiah and Hulu’s Chance, has joined the cast of Sweet Tooth.

Deadline understands that she is a series regular on the upcoming Netflix drama, which is based on the DC Vertigo comic and comes from Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey’s Team Downey, Jim Mickle, Beth Schwartz and Warner Bros. TV.

Owen plays Bear, a teenage, dystopic activist who’s the leader of the Animal Army. Her army of teens leads a moral crusade, fighting against the humans that lead to society’s collapse while protecting all Hybrids.

She is the latest actor to join the series following the arrival of The Flash’s Neil Sandilands, who plays General Steven Abbot, and Dania Ramirez, Christian Convery, Nonso Anozie and Adeel Akhtar. Will Forte has a recurring role, while James Brolin serves as the narrator.

This comes as the series continues shooting in New Zealand. It has been up and running since mid-September after becoming one of a small number of Hollywood TV series and movies to be granted border exemptions by the New Zealand government to film in the country.

As Deadline revealed earlier this week, other U.S. series resuming filming in New Zealand include Amazon’s Lord of the Rings with Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop back today. Production on Sweet Tooth is expected to run through to mid-December.

The eight-episode Sweet Tooth follows the adventures of Gus (Convery) — part deer, part boy — who leaves his home in the forest to find the outside world ravaged by a cataclysmic event. He joins a ragtag family of humans and animal-children hybrids like himself in search of answers about this new world and the mystery behind his hybrid origins.

Mickle and Schwartz write, exec produce and co-showrun, with Mickle also acting as a director. Team Downey’s Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey and Amanda Burrell also exec produce alongside Linda Moran and Evan Moore producing. Team Downey produces in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Owen was last seen in Netflix’s Messiah, where she played Rebecca Iguero, a troubled teen living in a backwater Texas town who wants nothing more than to leave her life behind. She also recently starred opposite Matthew McConaughey in Neon’s The Beach Bum, written and directed by Harmony Korine, and opposite Alex Wolff in his directorial feature film debut, The Cat and The Moon. Next up, she will star in in Paper Spiders, an indie drama that is directed by Inon Shampanier based on a script by Inon Shampanier and Natalie Shampanier.

Owen is represented by Paradigm,Johnson and Laird Management and McKeon/Myones Entertainment.

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