EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures and director Seth Gordon have found their female star for Baywatch, the movie transfer of the syndicated TV series. Alexandra Daddario has landed the role of Summer, a lifeguard who is the love interest of the aerobicized life saver played by Zac Efron. The film stars Dwayne Johnson. Daddario recently co-starred with Johnson in San Andreas, and her recent credits also include the first season of HBO’s True Detective, and Percy Jackson And The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
Deadline revealed that Daddario was among a short list of actresses who tested for the female lead. The other candidates were Ashley Benson (Pretty Little Liars, Elvis & Nixon), Nina Dobrev (Vampire Diaries), Alexandra Shipp (Straight Outta Compton, X-Men Apocalypse), Shelley Hennig (Teen Wolf), Bianca Santos (The Duff) and Denyse Tontz (Big Time Rush).
Johnson just announced Daddario’s role via Instagram post. Summer was played by Nicole Eggert in the TV series, and Johnson teased that the casting of CJ (played by Pamela Anderson) will be announced soon. It’s certainly possible one of the other actresses who tested could be in the running for that.
Daddario is repped by UTA and Untitled Entertainment.
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