Elle Fanning is attached to star in the Universal Content Productions (UCP) series based on the real-life case of Michelle Carter, which has landed at Hulu, Variety has learned.

Titled “The Girl From Plainville,” Fanning will star as Carter, who was infamously convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2017 after texting her boyfriend encouragement to commit suicide three years prior. The series will be based on the Esquire article of the same name by Jesse Barron.

Liz Hannah and Patrick Macmanus will co-write the series and serve as executive producers and co-showrunners. Fanning and Echo Lake’s Brittany Kahan Ward will also executive produce. Barron and Erin Lee Carr will serve as consulting producers. UCP will serve as the studio, while Kelly Funke will oversee the project for Macmanus’ Littleton Road Productions. Littleton Road is currently under an overall deal at UCP.

“The Girl From Plainville” keeps Fanning in the Hulu fold. She recently starred in the historical dramedy “The Great” in the titular role of Catherine the Great. The show was nominated for two Emmy Awards and was renewed for a second season in July.

UCP has found great success with true crime shows in the past few years. “The Act,” which also aired on Hulu, told the story of Dee Dee and Gypse Rose Blanchard. The show won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for star Patricia Arquette. UCP also produces the series “Dirty John,” which aired its first season on Bravo and is recently aired its second on USA Network. UCP’s “Dr. Death” — based on the story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch and starring Jamie Dornan, Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater — has been ordered to series at Peacock, with Macmanus serving as writer and showrunner on that series as well.

Via

Megan Thee Stallion, Maluma and Shira Haas were among the artists featured in Variety’s Power of Young Hollywood virtual event, which premiered Thursday, Aug. 6 at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET on Facebook. The program partnered with Facebook to benefit Rock the Vote and encouraged fans to register to vote in the 2020 presidential election.

The hourlong special celebrated young actors, musicians and social media creatives who have continued to flourish during the shutdown of the entertainment industry, exploring new creative outlets or devoting time to their loved ones. Benito Skinner, Instagram star also known as Benny Drama, hosted the event.

Skinner kicked off the night with an introduction of Netflix’s docuseries “Cheer.” The series’ breakout star Jerry Harris had a surprise e-visit from his role model Gabrielle Union, who plays a cheerleader in the 2000 film “Bring It On.” Union said Harris’ journey and positivity made her cry every time he appeared on the show. When asked for advice, she told her mentee to always be on time.

“Time in this town — people act like it’s a suggestion, and that is the quickest way to put yourself right out the mix,” she said. “So many people’s careers have been impacted, because they do not value other people’s time. Just be you. Don’t be weird, and watch your crowd.”

Nickelodeon star Jojo Siwa joined singer Jojo to discuss her music career. The 17-year-old star shared she feels comfortable making her youthful music, rather than telling stories she doesn’t resonate with.

“For music wise, people actually assume ‘she has to be young,’” said Siwa. “She has to dress like she does; she has to walk and talk like she does. But for me, it’s actually the opposite. I am like I don’t want to sing about something yet. I’m not ready to.”

Maluma also expressed love for his music. The Latin artist, named after his mother Marlli, father Luis and sister Manuela, draws artistic inspiration from his Columbian family and feels proud sharing his culture with the world. He has been working nonstop in quarantine, producing his next album and releasing a new single, “Hawái.” He was recently featured in two songs from Madonna’s album “Madame X.”

“[Madonna] texted me. That was crazy,” he said. “She was like ‘oh, I’m Madonna, and I’m making my album right now. I would love to have you be a part of the project.’ We did three songs, two for her album and one for my album.”

Elle Fanning, portraying Queen Catherine the Great in Hulu’s “The Great,” reflected on her transition from starring in child roles to playing “adult” ones. She shared her experience with a mother who asked for advice for her 14-year-old daughter who loves acting.

“You have to make sure you absolutely love it, because as much fun as it is, it definitely takes a lot of work,” she said. “So you have to make sure you got that passion for it, because there can come a lot of rejections and a lot of nos. And I think having that passion will push you through those disappointments.”

“Unorthodox” star Haas joined Michael Cimino and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan to discuss the power of teen dramas. When asked what makes their series special, Haas focused on its power of empathetic storytelling.

“When I read it and I think ‘I wonder what happened to people when they watched it’ is that they thought they’d see something supposed to be very different from them, but then they saw themselves in a way we tell their story,” she said. “And I think it really brings people together and connect people to understand that we’re all just human beings.”

In closing, sisters Chloe x Halle performed “Forgive Me” from their newest album “Ungodly Hour.”

Other stars featured in the event included Hailee Steinfeld, Kelsea Ballerini, Bebe Rexha, Rickey Thompson, Jalaiah Harmon, Adam RayOkay (Rosa), Bretman Rock and the cast of “Outer Banks.” Watch the full presentation below.

Elle was seen while she was leaving her home in Los Angeles yesterday, August 2. Be sure to check out the latest candids, you can find them in the gallery

Elle is on the cover of Icon Magazine July issue with a brand new photoshoot by Andreas Ortner, check out our gallery for the newest photos.

Elle and The Great have been nominated a TCA Award, by the TV Critics Association, and are potential hint of what Emmy nominations will look like.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY
Pamela Adlon, “Better Things” – FX
Christina Applegate, “Dead to Me” – Netflix
Elle Fanning, “The Great” – Hulu
Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek” – Pop TV
Issa Rae, “Insecure” – HBO
Ramy Youssef, “Ramy” – Hulu

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM
“The Great” – Hulu
“The Mandalorian” – Disney+
“The Morning Show” – AppleTV+
“Never Have I Ever” – Netflix
“Watchmen” – HBO
“Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” – NBC

The Great star and executive producer Elle Fanning, star Nicholas Hoult, and creator Tony McNamara joined Alan Sepinwall for a special Film at Lincoln Center Members Q&A.

When it came to playing the hijinks of Russian empress visionary Catherine the Great and her buffoon husband Peter III in Hulu and MRC’s period series The Great, Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult “threw out the history books.”

More specifically, rather than have their performances become bogged down by all the historical facts, they left that to creator Tony McNamara, who is quickly establishing a flair for melding historical drama with absurdist comedy. Not having to hit the books, allowed Hoult, who worked on McNamara’s Oscar nominated The Favourite (he was nominated for original screenplay) to “mess around”; of sheer delight being Peter III’s physical antics of brawling and sharp Month Python-esque one-liners.

That great chemistry between Fanning’s deadpan and Hoult’s foolish king is chemistry the actress says came about during the six month shoot of The Great, even though it’s the second time the duo have worked together after the 2014 sci-fi western Young Ones.

Says Fanning, on which The Great reps her first time as a TV series EP, “Tony has done so much research on the period and in Catherine and Peter, and used the facts that work specifically for our tone. The real work was humanizing the character, making her a character that that could come to modern audiences and show how she became this feminist icon.”

Watch the clip from Tuesday night virtual screening of Hulu’s The Great.

The opening credits to each episode call “The Great” “an occasionally true story,” and certainly there’s a distinctly modern sensibility and a load of deliberate anachronisms in the portrayal of the dysfunctional Russian court. The series is blackly comic feast centered on the delicious feuding between Hoult, played by “The Favorite” vet Nicholas Hoult, and Catherine, played by Elle Fanning with a breezy combination of innocence and steel. Fanning, who also served as an executive producer on the series, spoke to TheWrap about “The Great” on the day that Hulu renewed it for a second season.

“I really find satisfaction with looking at my calendar and figuring out what time I have certain things. But I also don’t force myself to do anything. I’m a daydreamer.”

Just before quarantine started, Elle Fanning was set to fly to Budapest with her older sister, Dakota, to start shooting the World War II film The Nightingale, based on the 2015 novel by Kristin Hannah, which will mark the sisters’ first on-screen appearance together. “We talk about what it’s going to be like a lot,” says Elle, 22. “We’re playing sisters, so there’s not much research to be done. We’ve got that covered.”

Right now, the sisters are in Los Angeles, in isolation together, along with their mom and grandmother. Elle has experienced a few milestones during quarantine: her birthday, in April, and the release, in May, of The Great, a satirical Hulu series about Catherine the Great in which she stars. On July 2, the show’s second season was announced. Catherine is one of Fanning’s first comedic roles, and The Great also marks her first turn as an executive producer.

Fanning has been using the past few months to relax a bit: forgoing alarms, baking ooey gooey butter cakes, going on walks with her mom, doing experimental makeup inspired by the comedian Chelsea Peretti. Here, she talks to WSJ. about her favorite exercise class, the best advice she’s gotten and why this spring was an ideal time for The Great to come out.