Yahoo News Tom Holland’s West End Understudy Daniel Quinn-Toye Nabs Starring Role in Amazon MGM’s ‘Voltron’ (Exclusive)
Newcomer Daniel Quinn-Toye, an actor with nary a film credit to his name, has nabbed the starring role in Voltron, Amazon MGM’s big-budget live-action feature based on the mecha anime.
Rawson Marshall Thurber, the filmmaker behind the Netflix hit Red Notice, is directing the adaptation, which will shoot this fall in Australia.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Producing are Todd Lieberman via Hidden Pictures, World Events Productions’ Bob Koplar, Thurber and Hobie Films’ David Hoberman.
Voltron is based on the Japanese sci-fi series Beast King GoLion and Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV. World Events edited and dubbed the series as a syndicated show, naming it Voltron: Defender of the Universe, which ran in the mid-1980s. The premise centered on five young pilots in a battalion named the Robot Lions, which are vehicles that join together to form a mega-robot known as Voltron.
The plot details for the new version is unclear. Thurber wrote the script with Ellen Shanman. What is clear is the potential the role has in catapulting the young actor onto the hot lists of casting agents and producers.
Amazon, Thurber and the producers conducted a thorough search for the male and female leads, doing screen tests in early and mid-September. Quinn-Toye was one of four to make the short list for the male lead. (The female role, which tested three actresses, remains up for grabs.)
Though he has no film credits, Quinn-Toye has appeared on television, notching a credit on BBC Three series Badults. He was also an extra on an episode of Outlander.
But it’s his stage work that impressed the moviemakers. The 21-year old thespian, who attended London’s Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts as well as the Dance School of Scotland, was the understudy to Tom Holland in the Spider-Man actor’s splashy return to the theater world this past spring in the West End production of Romeo & Juliet. Quinn-Toye also made his professional debut with the production with the role of Paris, a suitor to Juliet. He also appeared in several theater works put on by LAMDA.
Quinn-Toye is repped by Florence Rose at Independent Talent Group and attorney Daniel Passman.
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
