Malina Weissman and Louis Hynes join Neil Patrick Harris as Violet and Klaus in Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Netflix’s highly anticipated adaptation is turing out to be anything but unfortunate. Today the series announced that the roles of both Violet and Klaus are officially filled by Malina Weissman and newcomer to the screen, Louis Hynes. Weissman most recently appeared as the younger Kara to Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl on CBS.
The two young actors round out the main crew of A Series of Unfortunate Events with Neil Patrick Harris taking the role of Count Olaf announced earlier this year. In Lemony Snicket’s series Violet and Klaus, along with their much younger sibling Sunny, are sent off to live with Count Olaf after their parents die in a fire. The Count follows the children throughout the series making various attempts to steal their inheritance setting off “a series of unfortunate events” for the Baudelaire children to overcome.
Weissman will portray the cunning leader and novice inventor of the Baudelaire orphans. Hynes takes the role of the middle child, one who is obsessed with books and can quote nearly any detail from the vast collections he has read. Sunny has yet to be cast, but whomever they find must be willing to bite all objects in her path.
The series, though written for a younger audience, is incredibly dark and filled with death and destruction. The 2004 film, starring Jim Carrey, was a bit comical, especially when it came to the portrayal of Count Olaf. We’re hoping that Netflix chooses explore the darker corners of Lemony Snicket’s work. The team behind the series include True Blood writer and executive producer Mark Hudis, who will serve as the showrunner, and director Barry Sonnenfeld, who produced the original A Series of Unfortunate Events film.
Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is expected to begin filming in Vancouver this March.