Nashville’s Aubrey Peeples has been tapped to play Jerrica Benton in the live-action movie adaptation of the Jem and the Holograms cartoon.

Aubrey Peeples Starring In 'Jem and the Holograms'

For Peeples, 20, Jem and the Holograms, which is to be directed by Jon M. Chu, will be her first major film role. In the movie, she’ll have to channel both Jerrica and her alter ego, Jem, the pink-haired front-woman of The Holograms, reported The Hollywood Reporter. The 1980s cartoon was inspired by a Hasbro toy line.

In an effort to modernize the movie, Jem and the Holograms will be distancing itself from the 80s decade. It will be reimagined "for a whole new generation with themes of being true to who you are in a multitasking, hyperlinked social media age."

In keeping with the reimagining, Jem is an orphaned teenager who gets her big break through a viral video on the Internet. Completing a scavenger hunt to find their late father’s final message, Jem and her sisters travel across Los Angeles.

While Peeples is best known for playing country ingénue Layla Grant in Nashville, she’s also appeared in ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and in the hit TV movie Sharknado.

The Holograms will be rounded out by Stefanie Scott (Jem’s sister Kimber), Aurora Perrineau (Shana) and Hayley Kiyoko (Aja).

Jem and the Holograms has begun filming, but does not yet have a release date.

– Chelsea Regan

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