Freida Pinto to play two roles in Andy Serkis's Jungle Book movie
Pinto will voice Mowgli's wolf mother, and play a human character, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale in Jungle Book: Origins
We're already expecting one big Jungle Book adventure from Disney in 2016 but 2017's Jungle Book: Origins is certainly going to try to give it a run for its money, with yet another high profile casting.
Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto has confirmed she's signed on to star in Andy Serkis' re-telling of the classic tale. She'll voice Mowgli's adoptive wolf mother – joining Benedict Cumberbatch as Shere Khan, Christian Bale as Bagheera and Cate Blanchett as Kaa among the voice cast – and will also be playing a human character in the film too, so we can probably expect to see her popping up alongside Welsh wonder Matthew Rhys.
Serkis is directing the film, and also starring as Baloo, while Tom Hollander lends his voice to a jackal hyena called Tabaqui, who was originally deleted from the 1967 animated movie.
Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o voices Mowgli's adoptive mother in Disney's The Jungle Book (that's the one due for release this year, with Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walken voicing the gang) so Pinto will have a strong lead to follow.
The actress told Entertainment Tonight that she's very excited about the role. "I read The Jungle Book and watched the TV series in India growing up, and for me, to finally be part of the film that reminds me so much of my childhood is just amazing," she said.
"It's one of those films that I feel, no matter what age group you are, you're going to enjoy that film, and I feel like it's been a while since I've done something like that, because most of my films have not been good enough for children. A little too intense, so I'm very happy to finally be doing a film that can be [watched by kids]."
