'Aladdin' Live-Action Movie News: 'Into the Woods' Actor Billy Magnussen Joins Cast
The Guy Ritchie-directed "Aladdin" live-action remake has recently added another cast member.
This time, the upcoming movie based on the 1992 animated film will feature "Into the Woods" actor Billy Magnussen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, he will be playing the role of Prince Anders, a new character that was not in the original Disney film. Other than the fact that this character has been created solely for the upcoming musical movie, no further details about Prince Anders have been revealed.
Magnussen will star alongside Mena Massoud as Aladdin, Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine, Will Smith as Genie, and Marwan Kenzari as Jafar. It is speculated that Prince Anders will be Aladdin's rival over Princess Jasmine.
This is not the first time he will be in a Disney film though. He previously played the role of Rapunzel's prince in the fantasy/adventure film "Into the Woods," even performing a duet with actor Chris Pine.
He also has a lot of musical experiences. According to Screen Rant, Magnussen first appeared on Broadway way back in 2007 on "The Ritz," starring alongside Rosie Perez. He is also in a band, playing the guitar for Reserved For Rondee, a New York-based rock band.
In other news, the "Aladdin" live-action remake was recently slammed for casting a white actor, specifically with Magnussen. According to reports, people took to social media to accuse Disney of "whitewashing."
Considering that the original film was featured characters of Middle Eastern descent, people started to question why they had to cast a white actor for this particular character.
Previously, Disney also came under fire for casting Scott, a British actress, to play Jasmine, a character who is supposed to be a Middle Eastern princess.
As of now, there is no release date yet for Disney's "Aladdin" live-action film.
