Netflix‘s new adaptation of Little House on the Prairie is moving full-steam ahead.
The streamer announced it has cast child actress Alice Halsey to play the lead role of Laura Ingalls. Halsey is best known for starring alongside Brie Larson in the Apple TV+ adaptation Lessons in Chemistry. The role marked her acting debut, launching a budding career with appearances on Night Court, Days of Our Lives, and a recurring role on Kindergarten: The Musical.
The series, which was first adapted into the hit NBC series in 1975, will be adapted for the screen once again by Rebecca Sonnenshine.
“Everyone sees themselves in Laura. That’s why these books endure. Laura is a disruptor,” Netflix said in the casting announcement, calling the lead character “our window into this adventure.”
It continues, “Forget your modern ideas of childhood — the stakes are high for children living in the 19th century. They have responsibilities — and freedoms — that seem extraordinary in this era of helicopter parenting.”
Little Fires Everywhere actor Luke Bracey was also cast to play Charles Ingalls in a series regular role described as “the original Girl Dad.”
Crosby Fitzgerald is set to play Charles’ wife and Laura’s mother, Caroline Ingalls, described as “quiet and patient and practical – but with a core of steel.”
Skywalker Hughes will play Mary Ingalls, Laura’s older sister who is her polar opposite. “Laura and Mary are oil and water. Best friends and mortal enemies. They love each other deeply and hate each other intensely. But in the end, they always have each other’s backs,” Netflix’s statement notes.
The series logline describes it as, “Part hopeful family drama, part epic survival tale, and part origin story of the American West, this fresh adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s iconic semi-autobiographical Little House books offers a kaleidoscopic view of the struggles and triumphs of those who shaped the frontier.”
Lessons in Chemistry director Sarah Adina Smith is currently attached to direct the first episode with Sonnenshine serving as showrunner and executive producer.
Halsey will be inheriting the role from Melissa Gilbert, who praised the series and defended it from criticisms.
“Anything that works for the Little House legacy floats all the boats,” she proudly said on Good Morning America when the revival was announced.
A premiere date has not yet been confirmed for the series.
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