Matthew Vaughn likes to find relative newcomers when adapting Mark Millar’s work. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and especially Chloe Grace Moretz are much better known since working with him, and he has already selected Taron Egerton for The Secret Service. Another far-from-household name has just won the female lead in the new movie, with Sophie Cookson signing on.
Cookson and Egerton are starring alongside established stars Colin Firth, Samuel L Jackson and Michael Caine in the film written by Vaughn and regular script collaborator Jane Goldman.
Created by Millar and Dave Gibbons, The Secret Service sees an old-school Bond type (Firth) taking his street-smart nephew (Egerton) under his wing to train him in the family business. First mission: foiling a celebrity kidnap. Caine will be Firth’s spymaster and it appears Jackson is the villain.
Though Vaughn had apparently has his eye on the likes of Emma Watson and Bella Heathcote for the role, Cookson – whose credits include TV movie **Unknown Heart **and Sky’s Moonfleet miniseries alongside Ray Winstone (which doesn’t hit screens until December) – is more of a surprise, but also someone unconnected to an established role.
With 20th Century Fox backing the project, Vaughn should have cameras cranking in the autumn.