Leighton Meester will not be returning for the Veronica Mars movie.
Meester, who played Carrie Bishop on the hit show, will be replaced by singer Andrea Estella.
Creator Rob Thomas said that Meester was “unavailable” to film the new movie.
Thomas wrote an email today to explain to his Kickstarter backers why he couldn’t get Meester to appear in the movie.
Thomas writes : “Sadly, Leighton was doing a different movie during the same time frame on the wrong coast… In the end, she was unavailable.”
Thomas said that he chose Estrella to replace Meester because it was important for the character to be able to sing in the new movie.
Thomas said : “One of the reasons I wanted Leighton, beyond her talent/beauty/history in the show, was that we needed a performer who could sing in this important role. Once it became evident that we couldn’t make Leighton’s schedule work, I decided to cast someone from a band I already wanted in the movie.”
So now that Leighton Meester is officially out, who is Andrea Estella? E! Online notes that Estella is the lead singer of the band Twin Sister. She admitted that she hasn’t watched Veronica Mars but said that she was excited to be a part of the project.
Estella said: “I watched the Veronica Mars pilot and was totally into it! It’s the exact kind of show I would get obsessed with, so it’s been a bit of dream to be in a movie, especially being a messed-up rock princess. How could I say no? I think the VM fans are going to be very happy!”
Leighton Meester may not be returning for the Veronica Mars movie but Kristen Bell , Krysten Ritter , and several other cast members will be back for the new movie.
