Newcomer Ruby Barnhill to star in Steven Spielberg’s ‘The BFG’
Steven Spielberg has made his Sophie choice. Ten-year-old newcomer Ruby Barnhill is set to star as Sophie, the young girl in the director’s film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “The BFG,” DreamWorks Studios announced Tuesday.
Published in 1982, Dahl’s beloved children’s book tells the story of a young orphan (Barnhill) who teams up with a benevolent giant and the queen of England to save the world from evil, man-eating behemoths.
Mark Rylance, the Tony and Olivier award-winning stage actor, is on board to play the Big Friendly Giant.
“The BFG” marks the first feature-film role for Barnhill, who has been acting for two years and will appear in the upcoming British children’s TV series “4 O’Clock Club.”
“After a lengthy search, I feel Roald Dahl himself would have found Ruby every bit as marvelous as we do,” Spielberg said in a statement.
Production on “The BFG” is scheduled to start early next year. The film is slated to open July 1, 2016, with Disney distributing in the U.S.
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