Multi-award-winning artist Halsey has landed her major-on-screen role as she is set to make her acting debut in the upcoming Neo-Western film, National Anthem.
The pop star will join some of the viral names and rising stars of the year, including Euphoria actor Sydney Sweeney, Red Rocket star Simon Rex, and Cobra Kai’s very own Paul Walter Hauser. The cast members also include King of the Hills’ Tony Huss, Gavin Maddox Bergman, Desperate Housewives’ Harriet Samson Harris, and newcomer Derek Hinkey.
As per Deadline, National Anthem will center around the hunt for a rare and valuable Lakota Native American Ghost Shirt—a shirt that was believed to “protect the wearers against harm”—where some want to possess it for fortune or freedom and others want to return it properly.
National Anthem marks the directorial debut of poet and screenwriter Tony Tost. The film will be executive produced by Jason Cloth, with Page Fifty-Four Pictures’ Alex Saks and Bron Studios’ Aaron L. Gilbert producing. The film also features Native American activist Markus RedThunder who will serve as the film’s consultant.
Tost said in a statement that he is honored to bring “National Anthem to life on film.” He then went on to say, “I’m especially thrilled to be bringing to the screen a vision of modern rural America that pays tribute to the myths of the West while also radically reinventing them.”
Tost also took to Twitter and introduced the cast of the National Anthem and their roles. He then said, “It’s a pretty big ensemble, so there’s still some exciting casting announcements to come.
Sydney Sweeney as Penny Jo Poplin.
Paul Walter Hauser as Lefty Ledbetter.
Halsey as Mandy Starr.
Simon Rex as Roy Lee Dean. pic.twitter.com/rttUpRKKTb— Tony Tost (@tonytost) February 3, 2022
Toby Huss as Pendleton Duvall
Gavin Maddox Bergman as Cal Starr
Harriet Sansom Harris as Tish
Derek Hinkey as Hank pic.twitter.com/pfXa14eYrn— Tony Tost (@tonytost) February 3, 2022
It's a pretty big ensemble, so there's still some exciting casting announcements to come…
— Tony Tost (@tonytost) February 3, 2022
While National Anthem is the first big live-action film of Halsey (excluding her cameo in the film A Star is Born), this isn’t the first time she and Sweeney have collaborated. The pair first met and worked together during the filming of Halsey’s ‘Graveyard’ music video. In 2021, Sweeney revealed that she and the musician would star in The Players Table, a limited television series based on Jessica Goodman’s book They Wish They Were Us.
Sweeney has been making headlines due to her role in The Handmaid’s Tale, Sharp Objects, and Euphoria. On the other hand, Halsey has also been busy as she is about to headline a summer tour called The Love and Power Tour in support of her fourth album, ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.’
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