Prime Video's adaptation of the best-selling romantasy series, Fourth Wing, has reportdely found its stars. Esther McGregor has been cast as Violet Sorrengail and Emilio Sakraya will be taking on the role of Zaden Riorson.
The news arrived earlier today via a report from Deadline stating that the two actors have been confirmed. This is the first casting news we've received about the highly-anticipated adaptation, and it's the most impactful. The heart of Rebecca Yarros' steamy fantasy romance series is the relationship between these two characters, so they're performance will make or break the series.
Prime Video has found its leading stars for ‘Fourth Wing,’ the TV series adaptation of Rebecca Yarros’ bestselling novel.
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) October 15, 2026
Esther McGregor has been cast as Violet Sorrengail, and Emilio Sakraya will bring to life the character of Xaden Riorson, sources close to production tell Deadline.
More details here: https://t.co/Nod4AFRxXe
You may know Esther McGregor for her role as Isabel in A24's Baby Girl, where she worked alongside Nicole Kidman and Antonio Banderas. She also appeared in an episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi as Tetha Grig, a pink-haired spice dealer, which is notable because she is in fact Ewan McGregor's daughter.
Emilio Sakraya is perhaps most well-known for his depiction of ex-con Giwar Hajabi in the 2022 film Rheingold. You may also know him from his stint as JC in the first season of Netflix's Warrior Nun series.
For those not already familiar with the Fourth Wing books (AKA the Empyrean series), let's quickly break down who these characters are: Violet Sorrengail is the main protagonist in the books and is often referenced as a beautiful but frail girl with a deadly side to her. Xaden Riorsen is portrayed as a dark, powerful, and misunderstood guy with too many secrets. Both of these characters attend Basgiath War College where they learn to control powers given to them by massive dragons.
Whether or not these actors can accurately portray these two characters remains to be seen, but they definitely appear to fit their book descriptions. Seeing as this is the most important relationship in the series, they will need to have very good chemistry to be able to portray the love/hate relationship that makes the first Fourth Wing book so good.
The Fourth Wing TV series does not currently have a release date attached, but we do already know that Meredith Averill is serving as showrunner and executive producer. Rebecca Yarros will also be an executive producer on the project alongside Michael B. Jordan's Outlier Society.
While fans are waiting for the TV adaptation to become a reality, Rebecca Yarros is currently working on book four of the series. She's also been collaborating on several tabletop adaptations for the franchise as popularity continues to grow. Most recently, Yarros released Threshing Day, a standalone novel depicting the perspectives of various other characters on the day they got their dragons.