New Line Cinema has reeled in a talented trio to join the cast of Turtles All the Way Down for HBO Max. J. Smith-Cameron, Poorna Jagannathan, and Maliq Johnson have all been added to the cast of the John Green adaptation to appear alongside Isabela Merced, Cree Cicchino, Felix Mallard, and Judy Reyes. Smith-Cameron and Jagannathan will play Professor Abbott and Dr. Singh respectively, while Johnson will take on the role of one of the main character Aza's close friends, Mychal.
Released in 2017, Turtles All the Way Down was Green's fifth solo novel and the first since the release of his smash hit The Fault in Our Stars, which received a film adaptation of its own. It follows the 17-year-old Aza Holmes (Merced), a high-school student struggling with anxiety and OCD trying to be the best friend, student, and family member she can be while dealing with the constant, uncontrollable obsessions that intrude on her mind. With the reintroduction of her childhood crush into her life, she begins wondering if she can still find the love, companionship, and happiness she desires despite her mental illness.
Hannah Marks is directing the film for New Line with writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger in charge of the script. Green is on board to executive produce with the writing duo while Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, and Isaac Klausner produce under the Temple Hill banner.
Smith-Cameron has recently had a solid relationship with HBO Max as a regular on their massive hit series Succession and in a recurring role on the dark comedy Search Party. She'll return as Waystar Royco's general counsel Gerri in the upcoming fourth season, which will have her busy sooner rather than later as writing is nearly complete on it. She's also been a recurring figure in the past on shows like Law & Order and True Blood, and she appeared in the 2000 Sundance darling You Can Count On Me.
Jagannathan is perhaps best known as one of the stars of Mindy Kaling's award-winning dramedy series for Netflix Never Have I Ever, but she's actually taken on a heap of television roles in the past few years. She's been a part of Ramy, Big Little Lies, Defending Jacob, and, Messiah since 2019. Prior to that, she was a recurring member of the Primetime Emmy-winning HBO miniseries The Night Of. Her next big appearance will be in the Nina Dobrev and Pierce Brosnan-led The Out-Law.
Rounding out the trio is Johnson who's best known of late for Netflix's Grand Army series as Jayson Jackson, though he also landed a role in the recent The Sopranos prequel, The Many Saints of Newark. He also made appearances in the miniseries When They See Us, as well as Skin, Little Boxes, and Power.
Turtles All the Way Down will mark the sixth adaptation of one of Green's novels. Stay tuned here at Collider as we learn more about the film.