Dystopian science fiction fans, prepare to feel euphoric: Hunter Schafer has officially joined the cast of Blade Runner 2099.
Schafer (Euphoria) will co-star opposite Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once) in the Amazon limited series, as Variety confirmed this week. The series is executive produced by Ridley Scott, director of the original Blade Runner film, and Silka Luisa (Shining Girls), who will also serve as showrunner.
No information is yet available about Schafer’s character, according to Variety; most details about the series’ plot and its characters are being kept strictly confidential. Sources did say that Yeoh will play Olwen, described as a replicant nearing the end of her life. Regardless of what the plot dictates, it’ll be fascinating to see Yeoh and Schafer interact on screen — the former now entering her fifth decade in the entertainment industry, the latter just revving up to speed. Given Blade Runner’s extended ruminations on the self and how identities are constructed and exploited, the promise of these two actors sinking their teeth into the material is nothing if not enticing.
With Euphoria on indefinite hiatus, Schafer’s list of confirmed projects has exploded in recent months. Apart from her two forthcoming appearances in the films Cuckoo and Kinds of Kindness (alongside Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe), Schafer will also star in the horror film Palette, an A24 drama from director David Lowery titled Mother Mary alongside Anne Hathaway and Michaela Cole, and even the video game OD, an upcoming project from acclaimed developer Hideo Kojima that will “explore what it means to [overdose] on fear.”
As “booked and busy” as Schafer clearly is these days, she has also made time for political activism. In February, Schafer was one of dozens of protesters who were arrested during a Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) protest against Israel’s bombing of Gaza at NBC’s New York City headquarters. Schafer was photographed wearing a black shirt that read “Cease Fire Now” and a face mask while being arrested. The protest was reportedly organized in response to President Joe Biden’s appearance on an episode of Late Night With Seth Meyers.
“Hunter was arrested at the protest, along with 50 other people,” JVP organizers told NBC News at the time. “We commend her commitment to Palestinian freedom and to a future of justice for everyone.”
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