‘Riverdale’ star KJ Apa has been cast to replace Kian Lawley in ‘The Hate U Give’, after the YouTube star was fired in February after past controversies.
‘The Hate U Give’ focuses around a young black girl called Starr who witnesses a very close and innocent friend get fatally shot by a cop, purely because of the colour of his skin. Due to how much the movies story-line and Kian’s controversies clash, they had to let him go.
“I respect Fox’s decision to recast this role for ‘The Hate U Give’ as it is an important story, and it would not be appropriate for me to be involved considering the actions of my past. I understand the impact and I have grown and learned since then. From now on I plan to use my voice for positive change.” – Kian Lawley
Kian was set to play the lead role of Starr’s boyfriend, Chris and the movie, including his scenes were fully wrapped. However because of these circumstances, one of our favourite Riverdale men, KJ Apa has swooped in to save the day on such short notice – meaning he had to quickly re-darken up his red hair and get cracking on with the final shooting. Filming started back up again for KJ’s scenes on Wednesday and should take a little over a week to complete. The movie doesn’t have a set date yet, so fingers crossed there is still plenty of time to get the final touches perfected and we have no doubt that our superstar KJ will pull through and save the production!
‘The Hate U Give’ has an incredible cast lined up including; Regina Hall, Anthony Mackie, Issa Rae, Common and Amandla Stenberg.
KJ Apa already has such a promising year for his acting career, with ‘Riverdale’ being renewed for a season 3 and starring in ‘The Last Summer’ – a drama about a group of high schoolers who spend their final summer together before college. Joining the cast of ‘The Hate U Give‘ is the perfect cherry on top, as it is such an important story to share with the world.
What do you think about KJ Apa replacing Kian Lawley? We think he is going to do incredible! Tweet us your thoughts over at @CelebMix.