This article may contain spoilers from the book series Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.
Richelle Mead's book series Vampire Academy was a widespread success, and it is now being adapted to the small screen by a vampire lore alum, the mind behind the hit television series The Vampire Diaries, Julie Plec.
The series is due to premiere on September 15th and follows Dhampir (half human half vampire) Rose Hathaway, guardian-in-training of Lissa Dragomir, a Moroi princess, while they are studying at St. Vladimir Boarding School. Vampire Academy stars a brilliant cast including Sisi Stringer, Daniela Nieves, and Kieron Moore with André Dae Kim.
Sisi Stringer
Sisi Stringer will be playing the headstrong co-protagonist Rosemarie "Rose" Hathaway. She worked in Bloody Hell and Force of Nature, but her best-known project was released in 2021. Directed by Simon McQuoid, Mortal Combat was based on a video game of the same name.
It tells the story of Cole Young, an MMA fighter, who is putting together a team to defend Earth and the universe from the enemies of Outworld. Stringer portrayed Mileena, a ruthless warrior whose goal is to wipe out the champions of Earthrealm.
Daniela Nieves
Lissa Dragomir's new face will be Venezuelan actress Daniela Nieves, who also starred in the show Five Points and in the 2022 movie Sex Appeal.
She is better known, however, for her role as Andrea "Andi" Cruz in Nickelodeon's Every Witch Way. Andi is the protagonist Emma's best friend. She is hand-savvy, managing to block spells through devices of her own making. She also has a zombie as her boyfriend. This supernatural role will come in handy for her performance in Vampire Academy.
Kieron Moore
Kieron Moore will be playing the mysterious Dimitri Belikov, a professor at the Academy who eventually falls in love with Rose.
A competitive boxer for more than ten years and also a poet, Moore participated in the multi-awarded 2019 short feature Birthday Girl. Yet his most notable role to date is arguably the portrayal of Dylan in the British coming-of-age Sex Education, which is considered one of Netflix's best teen series.
André Dae Kim
Canadian actor André Dae Kim will be playing the role of Christian Ozera in Vampire Academy. This constitutes a way to redeem one of the many opportunities from the books which were missing in the movie adaptation since Ozera is a complex character and Kim has the experience to bring him to the screen.
Not only has he worked in big productions like American Gods, Locke & Key, and The Hardy Boys, but he has been involved in the well-known Degrassi franchise as Winston Chu.
J. August Richards
Victor Dashkov will be in the expert hands of J. August Richards, who is a three-time Daytime Emmy Award nominée. He has worked on Why Do Fools Fall in Love? and Good Burger.
Most notably, Richards has given life to Charles Gunn, a vampire hunter in the four seasons of Angel. It ended in 2004, after telling the story of a vampire cursed with a soul in a quest for his redemption, who helped people with supernatural-related issues.
Anita-Joy Uwajeh
In this new adaptation of the books, Anita-Joy Uwajeh will portray Tatiana Vogel, a reimagined version of the books' Moroi Queen, Tatiana Ivashkov.
Uwajeh has taken the role of Roxanne in the National Theatre's Cyrano De Bergerac, as well as Cordelia in the same company's production of King Lear. She is also famous for the part of Josie in Lucky Man. This TV series was inspired by Neil Biswas and Stan Lee's comic books about a policeman who can control luck.
Mia McKenna-Bruce
In Mead's books, Mia Rinaldi is a non-royal Moroi. In the show, she will be adapted as Mia Karp, played by Mia McKenna-Bruce. She started out on the Broadway stage, and has since debuted on both the small and the big screens.
McKenna-Bruce portrayed Tee Taylor in Tracy Beaker Returns from 2010 to 2012, and worked in The Dumping Ground from 2013 to 2018. She has also appeared as Mary Elliot in Netflix's 2022 adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Persuasion.
Rhian Blundell
A guardian-in-training at St. Vladimir's, Meredith will be brought to life by Rhian Blundell. She is mostly known for her role as Jenny in David Shillitoe's Nobody Girl.
It follows Kezia Burrows's Alex who is unable to save Jenny from becoming a victim of a violent crime and pledges to find those responsible. Just like Requiem For A Dream, it is an obsession-themed movie as the girls' relationship is strained by Alex's issues.
Jonetta Kaiser
"Crazy Karp", was a teacher at St. Vladimir's, who eventually turns into a Strigoi. She will be portrayed by Jonetta Kaiser. who has worked on TV shows like Millennials (2021) and the dystopia Breakwater (2022) as Lauren Lewis and Kara respectively
Kaiser is also known for her role as Mia in the drama Root Letter. This movie tells the story of Carlos who is trying to find out the whereabouts of his former pen pal Sarah.
Andrew Liner
Rose's other best friend, the Dhampir Mason Ashford, will be played by Andrew Liner. One of the great actors who debuted in the 21st century, Liner started out as Drew in the 2017 comedic drama Better Things.
He has since gone on to play Rodney the awarded ABC Black-ish spin-off Grown-ish, which focuses on Zoey Johnson's misadventures at college.