Written by Today has been an exciting day for Masters of the Universe fans. That is because today we learned that actress Camila Mendes has just been cast in the role of Teela in the upcoming “Masters of the Universe” movie from Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Films!
And now thanks to awesome community member @firefly , we also learned about some other up-and-coming actresses that also screen tested for the role of Teela, perhaps with He-Man actor himself Nicholas Galitzine. Those actresses were Clara Rugaard, Alexandra Shipp and Quintessa Swindell (per a report thanks to the Hollywood Reporter).
Sometimes actors who screen test for roles (and don’t win them) get offered other smaller roles in the same movie. So will Clara Rugaard, Alexandra Shipp or Quintessa Swindell, who all screen tested for Teela, appear in the new “Masters of the Universe” movie in a different role? We shall see!
Filming for “Masters of the Universe” is slated to begin January 2025 and will debut in theaters worldwide on June 5th, 2026.
We’ll see you next time!
None of these ladies are a natural red head. Maybe there are not many acting these days? If Karen Gillan was a little younger she would have been perfect.
Karen is 36, so she could pull off 29. They are going with cheaper actors looking to get to the next level in the main good guy roles, though. As I said in the other thread, Camila Mendes is probably the best out of the four. The choices make me think they aren’t bothering with dying the hair.
@firefly Teela didn’t have red hair in the Dolph Lundgren movie either. Can we get one movie with a Teela with red hair?
Neither is Amber Heard and her spot on Mera portrayal looks like she jumped right out of the cover of a comic book.
They don’t need too; they just need to nail the look with dyed hair/a wig/prolly contect lenses & costume. And with that Mendes seems to be the best choice IMO (need to see her Teela`d up though). Rugaard & possibly Swindell might be able to get that look done as well. Shipp might probably look silly in bright red hair & blue contacts; although with her sharp facial symmetry I can see why she was a candidate.
This girl who stars with her in Riverdale was born to be Teela. Maybe they were trying to get to her through Camila Mendes! 😁
Well, of these 3, two seem like they could have done some DEI “updates". Glad they seem to not be going in that direction.
With the one cast, she could look the part and check a box…let’s see who’s next!
Maybe…Man-at-Arms?
Random and company will probably be late/last to cast
Seeing who they’re auditioning already tells me everything I need to know about how crappy this “MOTU" movie is going to be.
Exactly. Was gonna post same thing, but not so nice.
I see these comments and I feel it is dumb to be so negative this early. We hardly know anything right now.
@therealbatman We know enough, starting with the plot…
Have to say I agree with you on this one. MOTU needs to stick to animation. Its not the right property to turn into a live action film. No different than Warcraft or Warhammer. A MOTU in top tier animation (similar to a Warcraft cinematic) would be absolutely killer. The plot line is already looking very flimsy and I while I like Camila as an actress, she isn’t Teela. And the other actor certainly can’t pull off He-Man. He-Man should’ve been Alan Ritchson from Reacher. Now THAT’S He-Man.
@smokinya Alan Ritchson? lol He’s 41 years old and looks 45. Sorry but that is the silliest idea ever especially if you hope to make sequels. Is your plan to deage him to be Prince Adam too?
Imagine having someone that looks like He-Man, play He-Man? Crazy right? I’d be totally shocked if the actor they chose is able to get big enough in time, unless they absolutely JUICE him to the gills with gear (he’ll be on gear anyways, but to get to He-Man levels he’d need Olympia level prep). There is always the option to make He-Man and the muscles CGI or slap him in a muscle suit, but if you’re going to do that we should scrap the live action all together.
Alan is a fantastic actor, has the statue of He-Man (both in physique and in the way he carries himself on screen) and honestly kind of looks like him as well. He certainly looks the part more than who we’re getting.
Additionally, they could always go the 200x route, where Prince Adam looked noticeably different from his He-Man form. Adam is a young man of 19-20, but when he becomes He-Man he ages up a bit to become a more mature character. Long story short: there is a hell of a lot of better choices out there other than the actors they’re picking. Part of the reason why we’re getting these actors/actresses as well is because they’ve recently starred in a variety of films for Amazon.
I see what you mean about Alan Ritchson looking older than his age. Henry Cavil is the same age as Alan but Henry looks a lot younger. Alan would be better as a 200x King Randor.
Henry and Cavil are the same age? Jesus I thought Henry was in his early thirties.
@mighty-thanos I thought the same thing but then forgot how long ago Superman came out
I suppose I will sound dumb if I confess I had a red head actress in mind for Teela *sigh*. But that’s life nowadays… I suppose Battle Cat will be a blue lioness with red dots instead of a green tiger with yellow stripes
Heard also has pale white baby soft skin. So the fake red hair worked. Mendes, as hot as hell as she is, has darker skin, so its not gonna look natural. But with the choices above, they clearly picked the right one.
Just wait until the totally race swap a character, which clearly above shows they really want to just for the sake of doing it.
Even though the vintage figure has red hair and blue eyes, it also had a tan skin tone. I do not mind so long as she still has red hair and blue eyes, and that it looks natural.
I still have zero expectations for the movie (but thats more of a default stance of mine in the past 10-15 years 🙂 ); but some hope is there. We are coming in a age where studios do seem to learn in the financial very hard way that highjacking a franchise for social political messaging and changing everything some writer has a personal bias with or wants to take a “creative take" on is borderlanding borderlining suicide. Especially when next to the massive flops you have massive financial and critical acclaimed hits that stays true to the source material visually and spiritual.
So lets hope they look at the Sonic franchise rather then the OG MotU movie as a recipe for success (even though I kinda like the old flick for what it is and it has become a cult classic; it was a failure back then); or pre-Endgame MCU as opposed to post-Endgame MCU.
The thing about a lot of versions of Teela is that she tends to have quite the temper, and as a man who is a quarter Brazilian himself (on my mother’s side) like to joke that we’re the Italians of South America. So who knows where they go from this.
Also, the points on Camila not being a natural redhead don’t matter a whole much. Not even on the basis that things like hair dye and wigs exist but also showing how it’s a nothing burger even going back.
Nobody seems to care about the Raimi Spider-Man movies doing in. Kirsten Dunst is a natural blonde yet she was cast as Mary Jane. Meanwhile, Bryce Dallas Howard was cast as Gwen Stacy but she’s a redhead.
I care to an extent. Certain traits commonly occur together. People with fair eyes and hair also tend to have fair skin. So a natural blonde could convincingly pass as a natural red head, and vice versa, because they both have complexions with cool undertones. When a natural brunette tries to pass as a blonde or a red head, it gets a little dicier, because brunettes tend to have complexions with warm undertones. There is a color harmony mismatch, that you may not consciously recognize, but your brain does. It can be distracting, and take you out of the film.
Blonde and red hair also tends to be more dimensional, meaning there may be many variations of tint, tone, and shade among invidual strands of hair that, when layered on top of each other, produce the overall “color." That is why flat blonde and red hair dyes also tend to look artificial. So it is much more difficult to create a multidimensional blonde or red hair color that also compliments a complexion with warm undertone. That is why it would be much better to use hair pieces and wigs for continuity purposes, than to try to achieve this on hair, and maintain it for an entire shoot. Or, alternatively, cast someone whose eye and hair color do not need to be changed.
Out of those two, I’d say they picked the right one.
Debby Ryan could have pulled Teela off, red hair, THICK!!, unless she’s starving herself now going through mental stuff after working with Disney.
@banthafett I’m like that’s not Debby Ryan! I looked her up. Her name is Madelaine Petsch.
@samuel
SHE is HOT!
Still needs blue contacts.