Amazon’s adaptation of Rebecca Yarros’ bestselling romantasy book Fourth Wing has been in the works for years now, but today, it feels like we’re making some serious progress in the development. At long last, the castings for main characters Violet Sorrengail and Xaden Riorson have been reported, and I’m seriously loving these choices!
As reported by Variety on Oct. 15, actors Esther McGregor and Emilio Sakraya will play the beloved enemies-to-lovers, Violet and Xaden, respectively. While both actors have been in several projects in their careers thus far, they’re still up-and-comers, a great choice for what’s bound to become a major TV franchise.
Where you’ve seen the actors before
If the actors look familiar to you, you might’ve seen them in their most popular TV shows and/or movies. McGregor, 24, played Mirren in Prime Video’s teen thriller We Were Liars—which is coming back for a second season—and she had a small role in the Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi. In 2024, the British actress played Nicole Kidman’s daughter in Babygirl, as well as the younger version of Tilda Swinton’s character in The Room Next Door.
Notably, Esther McGregor is the daughter of Golden Globe winner Ewan McGregor, who brought the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi to life, as well as other influential characters throughout his decades-long career.
As for Sakraya, 30, he’s best known for playing JC in Netflix’s popular fantasy-action show Warrior Nun, and more recently he had a role in the Peacock action drama Those About to Die. The German actor also played rapper Giwar Hajabi (a.k.a. Xatar) in the 2022 biopic Rheingold. Besides Fourth Wing, he’s also joined the cast of Netflix’s One Piece for its third season in the role of Koza.
Fan casts and fan reactions
Of course, with a book series as popular as the Empyrean, hype around the upcoming adaptation has not slowed down. Fans have shared all of their most passionate fan casts, and there have been several rumors over the years of actors who might play Violet and Xaden. Dune: Prophecy star Josh Heuston had been a long-standing rumor for Xaden, though he’d been very tight-lipped in response to every question about his involvement.
Well, now we know for sure that he’s not playing Xaden, but there are still other roles he could be great in. Bodhi, anyone? Now that the big casting announcements have been made, fans can’t stop reacting on social media—and fan-casting supporting roles who could act alongside McGregor and Sakraya.
Those who have seen McGregor in past roles are excited about the casting, with one fan writing on Reddit, “Her performance in We Were Liars is what has me confident that she’ll make a good Violet.” Another declared: “idk guys i LOVE her as violet.”
It’s evident fans are thrilled about Sakraya’s physical appearance, with many dropping in photos from his Instagram account on Reddit as proof he’ll be a great Xaden. “It’s giving shadow daddy vibes and he’s not even in leathers yet,” one person hilariously said. Those who have already been following Sakraya also vouched for his talent, with another fan adding, “Never in a million years thought Emilio was actually getting the part I’m over the MOON. He’s perfect and some of yall don’t know it yet.”
“Great casting. He was my #1 out of all the fan castings. Can't wait to see them in full costume,” another wrote in the Reddit thread.
We cannot wait to see what these two actors bring to the table!
It was announced last September that Meredith Averill would serve as the showrunner of Amazon’s Fourth Wing series, with Outlier Society and Premeditated Productions also producing. The adaptation was officially ordered to series this May after the development stage.
While you wait for the show to come out, be sure to read Yarros’ latest entry in the Empyrean series, Threshing Day.
Add us as a preferred source on Google