9 Actresses Who Could Play Elain in Hulu's ACOTAR TV Show

Alison Oliver

Alison Oliver is getting a lot of attention right now for playing Venetia in Emerald Fennell's psychological thriller Saltburn. Before that, Oliver played Frances in Conversations with Friends, the Hulu miniseries based on Sally Rooney's novel of the same name. Oliver gave complex performances in both properties. Oliver could draw upon her experience playing Venetia as spoiled and shallow to portray similar qualities in Elain. Yet both Venetia and Elain are infinitely more complex characters than just this, even if their storylines are completely different.

Rosaline in Rosaline

Danielle Rose Russell

Danielle Rose Russell, best known for playing original vampire Klaus' Mikaelson's daughter in The Vampire Diaries universe, is on virtually every fancast list for an upcoming fantasy TV show. This is possibly due to her experience in the fantasy genre and romantic appearance. Russell is among the actresses commonly discussed to play Feyre, but she could also excel in the role of Elain. During her time as Hope, Russell demonstrated how she can play both a headstrong and romantic character. Yet Elain is very different from Hope and playing her would prompt Russell to grow as an actress.

Danielle Rose Russell as Hope in Legacies

Elle Fanning

Elle Fanning is known for playing the flower and lace-decked Princess Aurora in the live-action movies inspired by Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. Regarding Aurora's floral attire, Elain has a passion for gardening, resulting in a lot of fanart and cosplays of her swarmed with floral aesthetics. Additionally, Aurora's gentle but strong disposition is so similar to Elain's that Fanning is an obvious choice to play the middle Archeron sister. Additionally, Fanning's portrayal of a more manipulative character in The Beguiled suggests that she will rise to any acting challenge.

Elle Fanning as Aurora

Emily Carey

Carey gave a dazzling performance as a young Alicent in House of the Dragon at only 18 years old. Some aspects of Alicent's teenage persona recall Elain. As a girl, Alicent is positioned as the darling young lady of the court: lovely in appearance, endearing in personality. But Carey powerfully and subtly portrayed Alicent's desire for power, and the tragedy of how little control she has over her own life. Carey made Alicent so much more than a nice young lady and could do the same for Elain if she were cast in A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Emily Carey as Queen Alicent Hightower in House of the Dragon episode 5

Florence Pugh

Florence Pugh is one of the biggest up-and-coming stars of the past few years. She is constantly praised for her performances and has starred in several highly acclaimed movies, most recently Oppenheimer. However, Pugh is an ideal casting choice for Elain (or Nesta) because of how she nails the 'annoying sister' character every time. Pugh plays the younger sister of the protagonist in both Black Widow and Little Women, but takes different approaches to the character and relationship in each. Regarding playing Natasha Romanoff's sister Yelena, Pugh said (via CBR), 'Ultimately, despite her skillset, she is that wonderfully annoying younger sister that says all the right things [at] all the wrong times. So that wasn't hard at all for me to get into that.' If given another sister character, such as Elain, Pugh would find a way to give a memorable performance true to the books while making the character her own.

Yelena (Florence Pugh) with her lip trembling in Black Widow

Kaitlyn Dever

Kaitlyn Dever gave a funny, sweet, and overall great performance as the title character of Rosaline. Dever has had a quiet rise to fame over the years. She made her movie debut in An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong – and American Girl has previously picked out future stars like Shailene Woodley and AnnaSophia Robb. She was also named one of Variety's 10 Actors to Watch in 2014. Dever became a two-time Golden Globe nominee for her performances in Dopesick and Unbelievable. In addition to fitting Elain's description, Dever is overall an actress with the potential to stun audiences in any role.

Frances (Alison Oliver) looks on in Conversations With Friends

Millie Bobby Brown

Millie Bobby Brown is the champion actress of Netflix. Her talents are showcased in Stranger Things and Enola Holmes, and will be again in Netflix's upcoming movie Damsel. Her character types are generally curious, but range from extremely timid to defiantly outgoing. Brown has a kind of down-to-Earth, Everywoman appearance and is talented enough that it is possible to imagine her playing almost any character. The biggest challenge would be getting her to part with Netflix (at least for a while) for Hulu.

Close up of Millie Bobby Brown looking at the camera standing in a field in Enola Holmes 2.

Taissa Farmiga

Taissa Farmiga's character in The Gilded Age also bears some similarity to Elain. Gladys Russell is framed as the innocent, naive daughter of the Vanderbilt-inspired Russell family. But Gladys progressively reveals a shrewd awareness of her position in society and is becoming more assertive. Farmiga's performance in The Gilded Age season 3 and beyond may reveal more about her suitability to play Elain. Gladys is likely to have a big confrontation with her mother, and it will be interesting to see how Farmiga handles an intense scene like this. She would certainly have to be in some as Elain.

Emily Carey as Alicent Hightower and Paddy Considine as Viserys in House of the Dragon

Taylor Richardson

Taylor Richardson gives a commendable performance as Bridget in The Gilded Age. Bridget is a maid in the van Rhijn household, who is practical and level-headed most of the time, but still kind and caring. Richardson also delivered in a heartbreaking scene in The Gilded Age season 1. The role of Bridget essentially covers everything Richardson would have to do as Elain, and she does all of it well. Additionally, Elain's sweet personality and book description of looking 'lovely' instantly brings to mind a round-faced actress like Richardson to play her.

Taylor Richardson as Bridget in the Gilded Age