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news says she will play rapunzel in the live action tangled

An upcoming Australian actress has scored a starring role in Disney's upcoming live-action blockbuster Tangled. Sydney-born Teagan Croft will play the coveted part of Rapunzel alongside US actor Milo Manheim, in a remake of Disney's animated musical from 2010. Croft, 21, a former child actress, is the niece of Home and Away's Penny McNamee and her sister, Siren's star Jessica McNamee. Disney announced the casting on their official social media on Thursday, alongside a photo of the two young co-stars and included the caption: 'Teagan Croft and Milo Manheim are Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in the live-action reimagining of Disney’s Tangled. Coming only to theatres.'

Croft added a cheeky message on the post, joking: 'OMGGG WHO ARE THEYYYY.'

Teagan is the daughter of Australian director Rebecca McNamee, and as a youngster, featured in a small role on Home and Away alongside her aunt Penny, in the 2016 season of the long-running soap. Her other aunt Jessica is also an actress. That same year, the budding star appeared in the cult Australian-made sci-fi film The Osiris Child. This led to her landing a role in the HBO Max superhero series Titans, where she had a recurring role in the show, which ran between 2018-2023. She most recently starred as the famous deep-sea solo sailor Jessica Watson in the 2023 Netflix adventure-drama True Spirit.

Croft beat 30-year-old Gigi Hadid for the role, who told Vogue in September that she had auditioned for the high-profile part. Other actresses who reportedly tried out for the coveted Tangled role include 16-year-old Zombies 4 actress Freya Skye and Gifted star Mckenna Grace. Meanwhile, her new co-star, Manheim, is well-known to Disney fans after his lead role in the studio's 2018 musical comedy, Zombies.

Loosely based on the famous German fairy-tale Rapunzel, Tangled hit theatres 15 years ago and raked in US$592.5 million at the box office on a budget of US$260 million. Along with Mandy Moore – who played Rapunzel – and Zachary Levi, other voice stars who appeared in the animated movie included Donna Murphy. The film showcased a number of songs, such as I See The Light, I've Got A Dream and also When Will My Life Begin? Australian filmmaker Michael Gracey, who won plaudits for his original Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, is set to direct the remake.

Gracey also made the 2017 Hugh Jackman hit The Greatest Showman.