Michael Cimino has been cast in the Love, Simon DIsney+ series. (Instagram)
Disney’s upcoming Love, Simon sequel series has cast up and coming actor Michael Cimino as its lead character.
Cimino will play Victor, “a new student at Creekwood High School on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city, and struggling with his sexual orientation.”
“When it all seems too much, he reaches out to Simon to help him navigate the ups and downs of high school,” the synopsis continues.
Cimino, who recently appeared in Annabelle Comes Home, will star opposite the previously announced Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty), who will play his character’s mother, Isabel.
Nick Robinson, who played Simon in the 2018 film, will produce and narrate the series, which will also star James Martinez as Victor’s father Armando, described as a “guys guy.”
George Sear plays Benji, the “super-cute hipster dreamboat with perfectly messy hair and perfectly ripped jeans” whom Victor falls for.
Love, Simon made history
Love, Simon was heralded as the first major-studio film to focus on a teenage LGBT+ romance.
Based on Becky Albertalli’s novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, the romcom follows a high school student as he falls love with an anonymous classmate known as Blue.
Unlike its predecessor, the Love, Simon series will be an entirely original plot.
Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker, the film’s writers, will serve as co-showrunners on the series while remaining on their other show, This Is Us.
“We could not be more excited to be making Love, Simon for Disney+,” they said in a statement.
“Writing Love, Simon was one of the most profound and enjoyable experiences of our careers to date and we are beyond thrilled that we get to revisit this world and tell the story of Victor.”
“We have a phenomenal group of writers with tremendously personal connections to the material crafting our episodes, and have assembled a dream team cast and crew to bring these stories to life, and cannot wait to share what we’re working on with the world.”
It was originally thought that the show would follow the plot of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda‘s sequel, Leah on the Offbeat.
However Berger confirmed that “the series takes place in the same high school and the same town as the movie but is actually a continuation about a whole new kid with a whole new story.”
Love, Simon will stream on Disney+.