As small-town high school junior Ethan Wate, who discovers that his true love is a witch, Alden Ehrenreich, 23, steps into his first starring role.
The Los Angeles native was just 18 when Francis Coppola chose him for 2009’s “Tetro,” which promptly disappeared.
To cast Ehrenreich in “Beautiful Creatures,” said writer-director Richard LaGravenese (“The Fisher King”), took persuasion.
“Alden I wanted because he said no. He thought it was chasing ‘Twilight’ and Alden has no interest in that world. He’s interested in doing good work.
“We’d tried to get him to audition, and he’d never even read the script,” the filmmaker said.
“But I wanted to make it about ideas that were more than just what you’d see in this genre. When the actor we’d cast for Ethan fell out for specific reasons, I went back to Alden immediately.”
“Not to denigrate ‘Twilight,’ but making something that’s just a combination of things that’s already been made before just isn’t appealing,” said Ehrenreich, who will be seen next month in “Stoker” and then Woody Allen’s new comedy, “Blue Jasmine.”
“What changed for me was when I actually read the script once it came around again. Within two pages, I could see that Richard had brought a really personal vision and an intelligence.”
Jeremy Irons, who plays a sympathetic warlock, said, “Alden is a very intelligent, talented guy, a great artist actually. He would disappear into his trailer and paint these wonderful watercolors. I think he’s pretty clear about the whole idea about being a celebrity.”
For Ehrenreich, stardom would change how he works.
“This is definitely my first big studio film. I’ve been cast in so many movies where the movies either don’t get made or the movie needs somebody else who is a name.
“I still go to acting classes, and as for becoming a star or something, if that happens, to me the only appealing thing about that is you have this creative control. You can make scripts happen that wouldn’t otherwise be made and you get to work with a level of filmmaker that is beyond anything.
“It allows you to do what I’ve always dreamed of doing.”
