Australian actress of Indian-Swiss descent Geraldine Viswanathan replaces Ayo Edebiri in Marvel's Thunderbolts

Geraldine Viswanathan. Pic/AFP

Actress Geraldine Viswanathan has joined the cast of ‘Thunderbolts', replacing Ayo Edebiri in an undisclosed role after the Emmy-winning ‘The Bear' star dropped out of the project due to scheduling.

Geraldine Viswanathan joins a massive ensemble cast of actors playing some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's best known anti-heroes, including Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, Olga Kurylenko and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, reports ‘Variety'.

Although specific plot details remain top secret, the movie will effectively serve as Marvel's version of the DC's anti-hero team the ‘Suicide Squad', with the characters brought together to do the dirty jobs the Avengers can't do.

As per ‘Variety', Jake Schreier is directing from a script by Eric Pearson.

Geraldine Indira Viswanathan, aged 28, is an Australian actress. Viswanathan's father, Suresh Viswanathan, is a doctor who works in nuclear medicine and is of Indian descent. Her mother, Anja Raith, is from Switzerland and was raised by a father who was a filmmaker and ballet dancer. Raith was once an aspiring actress who attended musical theatre school in London before getting married and settling down in Newcastle; she runs an acting school called Anja's Place.

Viswanathan grew up with a younger sister and a deep love of horses and animals. She attended the Hunter School of the Performing Arts, Newcastle, where she was in drama class. At the age of 15, Viswanathan and her family moved to Los Angeles, California for a few months, where she went through the process of securing a manager with the hopes of obtaining Disney and Nickelodeon roles.

Since Geraldine Viswanathan's career launched in the 2018 teen-comedy ‘Blockers', she's appeared opposite Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney in ‘Bad Education', opposite Dacre Montgomery in the 2020 rom-com ‘The Broken Hearts Gallery' and opposite Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks and Sarah Snook in ‘The Beanie Bubble'.

She also starred in the comedy anthology series ‘Miracle Workers' with Daniel Radcliffe, Steve Buscemi and Karan Soni. Edebiri is the second star to depart ‘Thunderbolts' in recent months; Steven Yeun left in January, telling ‘Variety' that "time passing and things shifting kind of pulled me out of it."

Lewis Pullman (‘Top Gun: Maverick') stepped in to replace him in the role, which is also undisclosed.