Christina Ricci to star in Australian urban drama 'Around the Block'

Actress Christina Ricci is set to star in an urban drama set in Sydney, Australia.

The film, titled Around the Block, also stars Hunter Lochard Page as a boy caught between his desire to be an actor and following his criminal brother.

Ricci will play American drama teacher Dino Chalmers, who is teaching at a suburb known for its difficult inhabitants.

“This is a story about freedom, the ability to choose one's own path in life and create one's own destiny," said the film’s writer-director Sarah Spillane. "As Liam is lead down two opposing paths by his criminally minded brother and optimistically inspiring drama teacher, he becomes painfully aware that he must make a decision that will shape his life forever.”

Co-star/executive producer Jack Thompson said the idea caught his interest years earlier.

“I've been looking forward to making this film for a couple of years now. I believe this is the most exciting Australian project for me since working with Baz Lurhmann on Australia," Thompson said. "I know that Christina Ricci will bring her own special quality to join an already fabulous cast."

Filming is set to begin later in June.

Ricci, 34, is known for her roles in films such as Mermaids (1990), The Addams Family (1991) and Monster (2003). She also starred in the recently-canceled series Pan Am.

Her next film, Bel Ami, co-stars Robert Pattinson and required her to master a British accent.

"They hired a wonderful accent coach who coached me…and also coached him because he spent a lot of time in L.A." she explained. "I got to make fun of him because he's actually British and sometimes would sound like he was a Valley girl. And he made fun of me because I was trying to be British and would sometimes sound like a Valley girl."