UGLIES: Ashlan Rowan Joins Cast of YA Dystopian Fantasy

Ashlan Rowan joins cast of Uglies

Ashlan Rowan cast in director McG’s adaptation of the YA dystopian fantasy Uglies.

The population of teens in Uglies will find Ashlan Rowan among them. This 13-year-old is relatively new to the industry, but already plenty busy, having worked recently in a number episodes on television series such as Perry Mason, The Santa Clauses, and Best Foot Forward. Based on her available publicity stills, this may be a perfect vehicle for her. Though her role is assigned as an ‘ugly student,’ unadorned prettiness is closer to the mark. It lies just below the surface, and the camera brings this forth in a surprising variety of ways — in a sense, a ‘pretty’ waiting to happen.

The novel “Uglies” is the first of the series by young adult fiction author Scott Westerfeld, in which the government enforces conformity by a standard of physical perfection. As with any YA series, the heroes, known as “uglies,” undergo the mandatory ‘Operation’ at the age of 16, after which they join the beautiful bevy of compliant citizens of ‘New Pretties’ in (of course) New Pretty Town — something like open season on Disney World — for the remainder of adolescence.

The novel itself has logical inconsistencies usually found in YA dystopias, the foremost in this one being post-apocalyptic scarcity, but somehow missing the squalor; there seems to be plenty of resources to go around, allowing technology to advance verging on fantasy. Facile though it might be, however, “Uglies” does have a good spin. It’s a fun read, and the plot features steady action and suspense, along with the usual angst at that age. (The prominent teen-style gimmick is the prevalence of hotrod hoverboards.)

Director McG has recruited several writers to adapt the novel, and he could not have made better choices. Vanessa Taylor adapted the YA novel “Divergent” with Evan Daugherty; she co-wrote and adapted del Toro’s story, The Shape of Water, as well as writing episodes for HBO’s The Game of Thrones. Whit Anderson distinguished himself as well with writing credits for Ocean’s Eight and Daredevil, and the television series, Ozark. Krista Vernoff wrote and produced episodes for Grey’s Anatomy, Shameless, Station 19, and Charmed. Jacob Forman (The Last Survivors) rounds out the writing team.

McG and his production team have taken their time bringing Uglies to the screen, which could indicate a concerted effort to craft a solid adventure with the youthful tone used throughout the book. Two months after completion of filming in December 2021, the project has been in post-production since then, without a release date yet.

Also, with the collective talents of actors on board, among them Joey King, Laverne Cox, Chase Stokes, Jillian Murray, Kevin Miles, Jan Luis Castellanos, Charmin Lee, Kelly Gale, Robert Palmer Walker, and Tessa Anderson, with Ashlan Rowan among them, Uglies shows great promise to be robust and exciting in the vein of Divergent, The Hunger Games, The Giver, and other successful YA iterations.

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