‘Fourth Wing’ Author Breaks Silence on Casting, Esther McGregor and Emilio Sakraya to Star as Violet and Xaden
Esther McGregor and Emilio Sakraya are set to lead Prime Video’s Fourth Wing series, based on Rebecca Yarros’ bestselling novel.
McGregor will portray protagonist Violet Sorrengail, with Sakraya taking on the role of Xaden Riorson. McGregor recently starred in the Prime Video series We Were Liars. Sakraya‘s recent credits include Those About to Die and season three of Netflix’s One Piece.
Yarros‘ 2023 New York Times bestseller The Fourth Wing is part of the author‘s The Empyrean book series, which also includes installments Iron Flame (2023) and Onyx Storm (2025). Yarros has a five-book series planned and has teased that she’s writing the fourth book. Titles and release dates for the planned fourth and fifth books have yet to be announced.
“I’m so grateful to our producing and casting team for conducting a thorough, worldwide search to find Violet and Xaden,” said Yarros. “It will be incredibly exciting to see these talented actors, Esther and Emilio, bring our beloved characters to life on screen.”
“Esther McGregor and Emilio Sakraya are brilliant, magnetic actors,” said Lisa Joy, co-founder of Kilter Films and executive producer of the series, directing the pilot. “We cannot wait for the world to see what they will do with these incredible characters.”
“Few stories have inspired the kind of passionate, worldwide fandom that Rebecca Yarros has built with Fourth Wing, and we know just how much Violet and Xaden mean to readers,” said Peter Friedlander, Head of Global Television, Amazon MGM Studios. “Esther and Emilio are rare and exceptional talents who bring something truly special to these iconic roles.”
The story follows 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail whose plans for a quiet life are upended when her mother, a military general, orders her to join the brutal Basgiath War College and become one of several hundred candidates vying to become dragon riders. Prime Video ordered the series in May after
The book’s synopsis further reads: “With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant. She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise. Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.“
The story also follows the romance of enemies-turned-lovers Violet and Xaden.
Amazon MGM acquired rights to Yarros‘ book series in 2023 and began developing it with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society, which has an overall series deal with the studio. Locke & Key co-creator Meredith Averill took over as showrunner in September 2025 after original showrunner Moira Walley-Beckett exited.
Averill is executive producing with Jordan and Elizabeth Raposo for Outlier Society; Yarros; Jonah Nolan, Lisa Joy and Athena Wickham of Kilter Films; and Liz Pelletier and Sherryl Clark of Premeditated, Entangled Publishing’s sister company. Stefano Agosto, executive vp television at Outlier Society, is a co-EP.
Oct. 21, 11:30 a.m. Updated with statements from Rebecca Yarros, Lisa Joy and Peter Friedlander.
This story was first published on Oct. 15 at 2:37 p.m.
