December 13, 2013 - 12:17 AMT
“Fury Road” star to topline “Gods of Egypt” epic fantasy

Up-and-coming Australian actress Courtney Eaton has nabbed the female lead in Summit’s epic fantasy Gods of Egypt, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Gerard Butler, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Brenton Thwaites and Geoffrey Rush are the male leads in the story, which is set in motion when a ruling god named Set (Butler) kills another, Osiris. When Osiris' son Horus (Coster-Waldau) fails in his attempt at revenge and has his eyed plucked out, it's up to a young human thief (Thwaites) to defeat the mad god Set. Eaton will play a slave girl whom the thief falls for.

Eaton's fellow Australian Alex Proyas is directing the project, which will shoot Down Under. Proyas wrote the script with Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. Basil Iwanyk is producing via his Thunder Road Productions banner, along with Proyas via his Mystery Clock Cinema banner. The casting is a major coup for Eaton, who only has one acting credit so far: Mad Max: Fury Road, a movie that isn’t due to be released until May 2015.

Eaton was discovered by a local modeling scout in her hometown of Perth. When Fury Road began casting a wide net for actresses, producers reached out to modeling agencies in the country. Eaton had no acting experience but the tape she made got her an audition with director George Miller. Following several screen tests to win over studio execs, she nabbed a role opposite Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.