Before Kristen Stewart burst onto the scene as Bella Swan in Twilight, vampires were widely regarded as nothing more than fictitious blood-sucking villains.
Kristen’s portrayal of Bella Swan – the complex and sexy protagonist of Stephanie Meyer’s tale – gave the Dracula-esque vampire figure a cool new edge.
And now, an acclaimed actress is being tipped to do to zombie films what Kristen’s turn in Twilight did to vampires.
Rose McIver, a New Zealand-born actress, has been cast as the lead in CW’s iZombie – and she’s being dubbed one of the hottest actresses to ever play the undead.
Rose, 26, will be gracing our screens as Olivia ‘Liv’ Moore in iZombie, which premiers on March 17.
The supernatural crime series, based on the DC Comics title of the same name, sees the rosy-cheeked, overachieving medical student’s life turn completely upside down.
One night she attends a seemingly normal party that unexpectedly turns into a zombie feeding frenzy.
After being bitten, Liv is forced to live as an undead – and does her best to cover her tracks.
Her gaunt Gothic appearance baffles her nearest and dearest and she’s forced to take up a job in the Seattle coroner’s office to satisfy her flesh-eating urges (even adding hot sauce and ramen noodles to her brain concoctions, which she eats with chopsticks).
Her boss, played by newcomer Rahul Kohli, catches Liv gorging on corpses and he is fascinated by her secret.
The pair embark on a mission to track down Blaine, who is played by The Vampire Diaries star, David Anders, and the zombie responsible for transforming her into an undead.
Making her new life work for her, Liv soon discovers that with every brain she eats in the coroner’s office, she retains some of the murder victims’ memories.
She starts experiencing violent visions from that person’s last waking hours – including detailed information about their murder.
Posing as a psychic, she uses her talent to work with detective Babineaux (played by Breakout Kings star Malcolm Goodwin) to investigate the crimes and uncover who is responsible.
An accomplished actress, Rose’s compelling turn in iZombie is set to portray the sub-genre of zombies in a whole new light.
The 26-year-old thespian was always destined for a stellar acting career; she starred in her first-ever commercial at the tender age of two and landed a movie role in The Piano aged three.
A big name in her native New Zealand, Rose has starred in countless TV shows and movies (including Rude Awakenings and Disney’s Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off), and most notably played Ranger Yellow Summer Landsdown in 2009’s TV adaptation of Power Rangers: RPM.
Her breakthrough role came when she played Lindsey Salmon in The Lovely Bones – Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of the award-winning and best-selling 2002 novel by Alice Sebold.
The film won a Golden Globe and BAFTA and Academy Award nominations. Rose held her own against Hollywood stalwarts, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon, cementing her status as a serious force to be reckoned with in the acting sphere.
Putting her studies in Psychology and Linguistics at the University of Auckland on hold, Rose secured further roles in movies including Predicament and Tangiwai.
You may also recognise her from MTV’s Cassandra French’s Finishing School for Boys, Showtime’s hit series Masters Of Sex, and Petals on the Wind.
You’d be mistaken for thinking her talents are limited to the big screen; Rose has also performed on stage at the Herald Theatre and at the Show Me Shorts Film Festival.
She is also an accomplished dancer, studying jazz and ballet until the age of 13, and is a fledgling writer, too.
The daughter of a photographer father and artist mother, Rose is an avid reader and runner.
Proving she’s far from a Hollywood diva, she has previously admitted to paying the bills between acting roles with babysitting jobs and a part-time job importing bananas with Fair Trade.
With such talent and good looks, it’s hardly surprising that Rose isn’t single; she’s been dating Benjamin Hoeksema since 2005.
Kristen Stewart, who?
Source : dailymail.co.uk