VICTORIOUS Star Avan Jogia to Lead Disney's Live-Action ALADDIN?

As BWW reported earlier this week, Disney has been struggling to find its leads for the recently announced live-action remake of its hit 1992 animated film ALADDIN. According to reports, the film's director Guy Ritchie put out a global casting call back in March in an attempt to find its Aladdin and Jasmine for the project. Casting agents from around the world were brought on board for what sources describe as, "a massive global search." For the role of Aladdin, the studio is searching for a male actor in his 20's who can both act and sing. Ideally, the actor would be someone of "Middle-Eastern or Indian descent."

Today, TMZ reports that Avan Jogia, who co-starred with Ariana Grande in Nickelodeon's VICTORIOUS, is "in the mix" to nab the lead role. Sources close to the actor tell the site that he submitted an audition tape to Ritchie and producers in London for the part. The tape reportedly included Avan, whose father is of Indian decent, singing a song from the musical.

Avan's fans have been flooding social media in an effort to encourage Disney to cast the talented actor in the live-action film. Below, check out Avan in Spike TV's miniseries TUT:

Jogia is a Canadian actor, perhaps best known for his role as Beck Oliver in the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious (2010-2013), and as Danny Desai in the ABC drama television series Twisted (2013-2014) - a role which earned him nominations at the 2013 and 2014 Teen Choice Awards.

Jogia first came to prominence with his portrayal of Danny Araujo in the 2006 biographical television film A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story. After moving to the United States in his late teens, he had landed various television roles within series' such as Caprica (2009-2010), Victorious, Twisted, and the Spike miniseries Tut (2015). Jogia's numerous film credits both within television and cinema, include Spectacular! (2008), Finding Hope Now (2010), Rags (2012), Ten Thousand Saints (2015), and I Am Michael (2015). His directorial debut came about in 2011, with the short film Alex, which was followed by the 2016 web series Last Teenagers of the Apocalypse. Among Jogia's future acting roles, is within the 2017 comedy film The Outcasts, and a forthcoming rendition of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.