"Spy" actress Miranda Hart has joined "Pirates of the Caribbean" actress Keira Knightley in Disney's live-action film "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms." "The Conjuring" young actress Mackenzie Foy, "Transcendence" actor Morgan Freeman, and "A Ballerina's Tale" executive producer Misty Copeland are also joining the cast.
According to BBC News, Hart will play as a comedic fairy Dew Drop in "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms." Knightley will play the Sugar Plum fairy while Foy is set to play Clara. Freeman will play the godfather of Clara named Drosselmeyer, and Copeland will play the lead ballerina role in the sole dance sequence in the film.
"The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" tells about Clara's Christmas toy Nutcracker doll that comes to life on Christmas Eve and takes her into a magical world of living toys to defeat an evil Mouse King with seven heads. It is based on the 1816 short story titled "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E.T.A. Hoffmann. It is famously adapted as "The Nutcracker" ballet by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1892, Variety reported.
"Safe Haven" helmer Lasse Hallström will direct "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" from "Somacell" writer Ashleigh Powell's script. "Grey's Anatomy" producer Mark Gordon is producing with Lindy Goldstein on board to executive produce.
Hart said that she is very excited to be playing a fairy in "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms." Her role will be her second big Hollywood role after she starred in "Spy" opposite comedy actress Melissa McCarthy in 2015.
Hart is best known in the UK for her eponymous and self-created hit comedy series "Miranda." She also won praise for her role as nurse Camilla "Chummy" Noakes in BBC drama series "Call the Midwife" following the lives of a group of midwives living in east London in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is represented by WME and Troika.
"The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" is set to start filming later this year.
Watch the video of Miranda Hart joining the cast of Disney's live-action "Nutcracker":