Evil Dead's Jessica Lucas Joins Paul W.S. Anderson's Pompeii

Cameras may already be rolling on Paul W.S. Anderson's Pompeii, but apparently that doesn't mean the project is done finding new actors to join the cast. Three weeks ago we found out that Kiefer Sutherland joined the film in a villainous role, and today we've learned that yet another name has been attached to the disaster epic.

Jessica Lucas, who was just seen this past weekend in the goreific Evil Dead, has signed on for Pompeii, according to Deadline. The film stars Game of Thrones' Kit Harington as Milo, a slave who must race home to rescue his wife and his gladiator best friend when he learns that Mount Vesuvius is going to errupt and bury his entire city in lava and ash. Lucas will largely be playing the best friend of Flavia, the character set to be played by Emily Browning who is the female lead. The movie also stars Jared Harris, Carrie-Anne Moss and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.

Beyond Evil Dead, which opened at number one at the box office this past weekend, Lucas is best known for her work on the small screen, starring in the series Cult. She was also a regular on the 2009 version of Melrose Place and had a lead role on the short-lived series Friends With Benefits. In addition to Pompeii, she will also soon be seen opposite Zac Efron, Imogen Poots, Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan in Tom Gormican's Are We Officially Dating?, which doesn't have a release date yet but is expected to come out some time this year.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.