Vampire Academy: J. August Richards, 9 Others Cast in Peacock Adaptation From Julie Plec & Marguerite MacIntyre

Angel alum J. August Richards is among those who will sink their teeth into Peacock‘s Vampire Academy.

The streaming service has revealed the cast for the adaptation of Richelle Mead’s paranormal romance novels, from Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Legacies) and longtime collaborator Marguerite MacIntyre, and it includes Richards, grown-ish vet Andrew Liner and a bevy of fresh faces.

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Described as “a story of romance, friendship, death, sex, and scandal,” Vampire Academy is set in a world of privilege and glamour, where two young women’s friendship transcends their strikingly different classes as they prepare to complete their education and enter royal vampire society. The “serialized and sexy drama” is largely set at the titular St. Vladmir’s Academy, which isn’t just any boarding school — it’s a hidden place where vampire royals are educated and half-human teens train to protect them from the savage “Strigoi” vampires who would like to see them destroyed.

The announced cast and roles are as follows:

♦ Sisi Stringer (Mortal Kombat) will play Rose Hathaway, a vampire-human hybrid known as a Dhampir. Fiery and outspoken, Rose is a true fighter in spirit and in practice.

♦ Daniela Nieves (Save Me) will play Princess Vasilisa “Lissa” Dragomir, a Royal Moroi vampire who, after a sudden death in her family, is thrust into a role she’s neither trained for nor is emotionally equipped to handle. (This description previously suggested Vasilisa and Lissa were separate people; we apologize for the confusion.)

♦ Liner will play the charming, loyal and popular Mason Ashford, Rose’s main competition in the quest to become the number one Guardian-in-training. Though their relationship is casual on her side, he is hopeful she will finally look at him and see him as something more.

♦ Richards will play Victor Dashkov, a Moroi noble vampire with a heart of gold who’s highly regarded for his role as advisor and political strategist to Moroi dignitaries. He’s a fierce loyalist who uses his intelligence and influence to protect that which he values most: the well-being of his husband and two adopted daughters, as well as the betterment of his Moroi community.

♦ Kieron Moore will play Dimitri Belikov, the model of a Dhampir guardian: lethal, disciplined, discreet, and totally committed to his role as bodyguard to the ruling Moroi, the “good,” mortal vampires of his world.

♦ Andre Dae Kim (Salvation) will play Christian Ozera, a Royal Moroi vampire who is also the pariah of the school and royal court, due to his parents’ unforgivable societal sins.

♦ Anita-Joy Uwajeh will play Tatiana Vogel, a Moroi vampire and political underdog who slowly takes the royal court by storm.

♦ Mia McKenna-Bruce (The Dumping Ground) will play Mia Karp, a witty, cutting and non-Royal student who has a long-term plan to social climb her way into the ranks of royalty – -though it is complicated by her instant chemistry with Meredith, a Guardian-in-training.

♦ Rhian Blundell will play Meredith, a smart, strong-willed Dhampir who has little patience for Rose’s volatility or Mia’s elitism.

♦ Jonetta Kaiser (Two Sides) will play the quiet, careful and decidedly odd Sonya Karp, who sits out on the fringe of Moroi society and s taken by surprise when a Dhampir Guardian named Mikhail shows interest in her.

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