Sophia Grace INTO THE WOODS Exit Explained; Dad Comments

News broke earlier this week that young internet sensation Sophia Grace Brownlee had been replaced in the role of Little Red Riding Hood in director Rob Marshall's forthcoming big screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's fairy tale-themed musical INTO THE WOODS, now to be played by ANNIE revival star Lilla Crawford, and Brownlee's father has now addressed the situation and clarified the circumstances that led to her departure from the highly anticipated project via social media.

Brownlee took to Twitter to write, "It was a joint decision between us and the director and producer of "Into the woods" to withdraw Sophia Grace from the film."

Following up, Brownlee added, "After careful consideration we the parents of Sophia Grace felt that as rehearsals progressed that she was too young for this part."

Follow Dominic Brownlee on Twitter here.

Grace shot to stardom as a guest on popular daytime chat show ELLEN, where she famously reprised performances of hits like Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass", Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" and others she found success with on YouTube alongside her cousin, Rosie.

Filming on the Disney feature film is currently underway on soundstages at Shepperton Studios and on location in the UK, following soundtrack recording sessions conducted at the beginning of this month. For more information, check out BroadwayWorld's coverage of Week 1 here.

The new confirmed complete cast for INTO THE WOODS is as follows: Meryl Streep as The Witch, James Corden as The Baker, Emily Blunt as The Baker's Wife, Johnny Depp as The Wolf, Anna Kendrick as Cinderella, Chris Pine as Cinderella's Prince, Billy Magnussen as Rapunzel's Prince, Mackenzie Mauzy as Rapunzel, Lucy Punch as Lucinda, Tammy Blanchard as Florinda, Christine Baranski as Cinderella's Stepmother and Tracey Ullman as Jack's Mother, with Lilla Crawford as Little Red Riding Hood and Daniel Huttlestone as Jack.

Check out the original BroadwayWorld world premiere exclusive INTO THE WOODS film confirmed casting article here.

INTO THE WOODS is set to be released December 25, 2014.

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