Leighton Meester is the favourite to land the leading role in a modern retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story.
Meester is slated to play a high school Belle in TV movie Beastly.
Her monstrous co-star has yet to be found, although Eonline reports Zak Efron was initially in negotiations to play the teenager turned into a beast by a jealous castmate.
Sources insist Meester is very keen to star in the modern fairytale: "She really wants to do it."
The film will be based on writer Alex Finn's young-adult supernatural novel of the same name.
The actress shot to fame in the hit television series Gossip Girl, appearing in the show since 1997.
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