Eleven, producer of British comedy-drama Sex Education, has announced the cast of their upcoming project Red Rose. The eight-part horror series will be centered around a group of teenagers the summer after school lets out. In anticipation of the upcoming series, Eleven released first look photos introducing the cast in Variety exclusive.
The creators of the show, identical twins Michael and Paul Clarkson, have made their name in horror as the writers of Netflix's modern gothic The Haunting of Bly Manor. Red Rose, named for the mysterious and deadly app in the show, will explore a sub-genre of horror that has gained popularity in recent years in films like Unfriended, 2016's thriller Nerve, and the hugely successful Shudder original, Host. In Red Rose, the Clarkson brothers examine the eerie way technology not only haunts and consumes us when one of the teens, Rochelle Jackson, downloads the Rose Red app on her phone and sets a chain of increasingly deadly challenges in motion. Jackson and her friends must stick together to face down these obstacles that may have invited a supernatural entity into their lives.
Starring in the series will be Amelia Clarkson (The Last Kingdom), Isis Hainsworth (Emma), Ali Khan (The School for Good and Evil), alongside Ashna Rabheru (Sex Education), Ellis Howard (Catherine the Great), Adam Nagaitis (Chernobyl), Natalie Gavin (Gentleman Jack), and Samuel Anderson (Doctor Who). Joining the series for their debut on television will be Harry Redding and Natalie Blair.
Speaking about their upcoming show, the Clarksons told Variety:
“We are thrilled with the talented cast that we’ve assembled in ‘Red Rose.’ They have so brilliantly captured the spirit of the North with their nuanced, devastating and hilarious performances. We can’t wait for the rest of the world to fall in love with them, just as we have. They’re doing Bolton – and us – proud.”
Red Rose is directed by Henry Blake, Lisa Siwe, and Ramon Salazar, who directed Netflix's crime thriller series Elite. Camilla Bray will produce the series while Joel Wilson, Nawfal Faizullah, and Mona Qureshi for the BBC, Carissa Hope Lynch, and Jamie Campbell with Eleven, as well as Polly Williams are on board as executive producers.
Casting for the show was handled by Kharmel Cochrane who has worked with quite a few notable productions recently, including Men, The Northman, The Lighthouse, and Saint Maud. For this project, she's tapped a group of rising stars, as well as a couple of new faces, in a bold move.
Executive producer, Wilson, says, "Working with Kharmel Cochrane to find our wonderful cast was a joy... Every one of our cast members are brilliant, and we feel honoured to be working with them.”
The series was filmed in Bolton, North West England, where the show will take place. Red Rose will air on BBC Three in the UK and Netflix everywhere else. Check out more of the exclusive photos below:
