Douglas Booth and Billy Crudup have signed on to star in the sports drama Life at These Speeds. The story centers on “a rural teenager (Booth) who loses his best friends in a tragic accident and channels his survivor’s guilt into an addiction to running, becoming a world-class distance runner in the process.” More than a decade after portraying famed long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine in Without Limits, Crudup will return to the track world to play Booth’s coach and confidante. Leif Tilden will direct Life at These Speeds from a script by Marc Novak, adapted from the novel of the same name by Jeremy Jackson. Sam Rockwell is executive producing alongside Scott William Alvarez and Peter Holden. Hit the jump for a synopsis of the book.

This is my first encounter with the 19-year-0ld Booth, but my goodness is he pretty. Like a British Chace Crawford. He explained the allure of the project to Variety:

“Sometimes a script comes along that really makes you sit up and pay attention,” said Booth. “Life at These Speeds has an emotional intensity that really kicked me in the guts. I love the challenge of playing characters forced on life-changing emotional journeys. To work on a project with Billy Crudup and Sam Rockwell is just a dream come true.”

Booth just played Pip in the BBC miniseries Great Expectations, which will air on PBS in April. Sadly, his Hollywood debut is in the Miley Cyrus vehicle LOL. Booth will follow that up with the decidedly more promising Romeo and Juliet, co-starring as Romeo opposite Hailee Steinfeld.

The synopsis for Jackson’s book:

When the school van veers off a bridge and plunges into the river below, everyone on the track team is killed except star Kevin Schuler, who rode home with his parents that evening. Repressing almost all memory of that season, Kevin begins high school in a different district, where he remains isolated from other students and teammates. Claiming he hates running, the star athlete nonetheless finds peace in it, losing himself in concentration when he runs. As Kevin sets more records and becomes locally famous, the clouds that hang over him take on new forms and he must successfully navigate his own course through all the noise of the outside world, dodging those who would tempt him in different directions.

Douglas Booth, who starred in Great Expectations, has been given a personal trainer to prepare for his love scenes in the film Romeo and Juliet with Hailee Steinfeld, 15.

There has been much excitement about Douglas Booth’s relationship with Vanessa Kirby, his co-star in the television adaptation of Great Expectations. The actor appears, however, to be just as impressed by Hailee Steinfeld, 15, who stars opposite him in a forthcoming film version of Romeo and Juliet.

“We first saw each other at the Met Ball in New York,” the 19-year-old actor tells Mandrake. “Our eyes met across the room. It was surreal, like something out of the play – life imitating art.”

The film, which has a screenplay by Julian Fellowes and is directed by Carlo Carlei, is likely to be controversial because of Steinfeld’s age. “Doing sex scenes doesn’t bother me,” Booth says. “I’m comfortable in my own skin and they’re giving me a personal trainer to get in shape, so I’m not going to worry about it. I know Carlo and it will all be done really tastefully.”

He adds: “I think it’s only right that the leads are being played by young actors. After all, in the play they are young – it’s about first love. Hailee is young, but I know, from my own experiences too, that love can hit you at any age, so it is right. When you meet Hailee, you don’t think about her age – she’s an amazing actress.”

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Douglas Booth

You’ve got to be pretty hot property to take the male lead in a Hollywood version of Romeo and Juliet. Not only are you playing one of literature’s most famous star-crossed lovers, you’re also filling Leonardo DiCaprio’s boots. Enter Douglas Booth, stage left. He’s playing Romeo to Hailee Steinfeld’s Juliet, with Ed Westwick playing Tybalt. We can’t wait!
You’ll recognise him from the BBC adaptation of Great Expectations, as well as many Burberry campaigns alongside Emma Watson and Lily Donaldson.

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19 year old English actor, Douglas Booth is set to have a very long and successful career due to the fact that, not only is he a very talented actor, but he also possess a great beauty about him. However, Douglas has admitted that, while beauty certainly helps in his profession, he does believe that it is also important to be a good person at the same time.
Booth explained, “We live in a beauty-obsessed age and success sometimes appears to hinge solely on the presentation of an image that is acceptable to the press. I suppose it helps if your face appearing 30ft high on a cinema screen doesn’t cause a mass exit, but I’d like to think that being a friendly, kind-hearted individual has as much of a positive impact on an actor’s career.”

The young English actor has been impressing both fellow actors and critics alike with his superb performances on screen, most recently for his performance as Pip in the TV adaptation of Great Expectations. Douglas Booth can next be seen on the big screen portraying the legendary Shakespeare character Romeo in Carlo Carlei’s Romeo and Juliet, which will be released this year. Romeo and Juliet will also star Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet and Ed Westwick as Tybalt.

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