Gavin Leatherwood (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) has joined previously announced Nina Dobrev (The Out-Laws), Tyler Hoechlin (Superman & Lois) and Virginia Gardner (Fall, Halloween) in Peter Hutching’s rom-com It happened One Summer as filming gets underway in New York.
The movie is adapted from Tessa Bailey’s eponymous 2021 bestseller, the first instalment in the Bellinger Sisters series.
Dobrev stars as Piper Bellinger, a glamorous L.A. It Girl whose glittering world comes crashing down after a viral mishap gets her canceled overnight. Cut off from her wealthy family’s safety net, she is exiled to a rugged fishing town with one ultimatum: fix up her late father’s dive bar – or lose everything. There, she butts heads with Brendan, a gruff sea captain who has zero patience for influencers. He’s the last person she expected – and exactly what she needs.
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Leatherwood will play Fox Thornton, Brendan’s best friend and fellow fisherman, a charismatic ladies’ man whose easy charm masks a deeper loyalty and vulnerability.
“It wasn’t easy to find someone with the charm and swagger of Fox Thornton, but we did it. So thrilled to have Gavin on board,” said Bailey, who takes an executive producer credit alongside Dobrev, Hoechlin, and Gardner.
Hutchings added: “Gavin was the missing piece — he walked in and the whole cast lifted. Nina and Virginia are brilliant together as the Bellinger sisters, and with Tyler and Gavin alongside them, we’ve got something really special.”
With a screenplay adaptation by The Hating Game scribe Christina Mengert and Joseph Muszynski, the film is produced by BCDF Pictures (To Leslie, Which Brings Me to You) and executive-produced by Frolic Media.
“Tessa wrote something that makes people laugh, swoon and stay up way too late reading — we want the film to do exactly the same thing. Audiences are going to have a great time with this one.” said producer and BCDF CEO Claude Dal Farra.
Leatherwood is best known for his roles in Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls. He most recently starred in Netflix’s It’s What’s Inside, which premiered at Sundance and was acquired by the streamer for $17 million.
Leatherwood is repped by Verve and Entertainment 360.
