Emilio Sakraya and Esther McGregor cast as leads in Prime Video’s Fourth Wing
The two actors will play enemies-turned-lovers in Amazon's adaptation of Rebecca Yarros' bestselling romantasy series.
Amazon Prime Video has cast its two leads for the television adaptation of Rebecca Yarros’ bestselling romantasy novel “Fourth Wing”. Emilio Sakraya will play Xaden Riorson opposite Esther McGregor as Violet Sorrengail, according to Variety and Deadline.
The characters are enemies-turned-lovers in Yarros’ source material. Violet, a 20-year-old forced by her military mother to join Basgiath War College, encounters Xaden, a brooding cadet with shadow-wielding powers and a descendant of a rebellious sect within Navarre. The college operates under one rule: graduate or die. Riders without dragons are as good as dead, and vice versa, according to the sources, which stresses the bond formed on what the books call Threshing Day.
About the cast
Sakraya is a German actor whose recent work spans both European and U.S. productions. His credits include the Peacock series “Those About to Die”, the Netflix series “Tribes of Europa” and “Warrior Nun”, as well as a recurring role in the upcoming third season of Netflix’s “One Piece”, where he plays Koza, leader of a rebel army.
McGregor recently starred in the Prime Video adaptation of “We Were Liars” and is currently filming “Life Is Strange” for the same streamer. Her film roles include appearances in “Babygirl” and Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door”. She has also appeared in the Disney+ series “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and starred alongside her father, Ewan McGregor, and sister Clara McGregor in “Bleeding Love”, which premiered at SXSW in 2023.
Series details
Meredith Averill, showrunner and executive producer, is known for “Anne With an E”. Lisa Joy directs the series premiere and executive produces alongside Jonathan Nolan and Athena Wickham through Kilter Films. Michael B. Jordan and Elizabeth Raposo executive produce via Outlier Society, while Liz Pelletier and Sherryl Clark executive produce through Premeditated Productions.
Amazon greenlit the series in May 2026, having acquired the rights to Yarros’ “The Empyrean” book series in 2023. The source material currently spans three published novels: “Fourth Wing” (2023), “Iron Flame” (2023), and “Onyx Storm” (2025). Yarros released the novella “Threshing Day”, a collection of 13 short stories set in the “Empyrean” universe, in September 2026. The fourth and fifth books in the series have been announced but their titles and release dates have not yet been disclosed.
This article was compiled by the Glamorade editorial desk from the official announcements and reporting listed under Sources.
