Tangled Live-Action Cast Revealed: Meet the Star Taking Over for Scarlett Johansson

File this under: casting chatter I did not see coming. The live-action Tangled is quietly taking shape, and a surprising name just jumped to the front of the Mother Gothel conversation.

Mother Gothel: not ScarJo after all?

For a while, the buzz had Scarlett Johansson circling Mother Gothel. Then a new wave of reports hit saying the role may actually be going to Paniz Rahnama. A tweet from The Beyond Reporter on January 4 flat-out claimed Rahnama has been cast. At the same time, other outlets have described her status as screen-testing for the part. So, yes, the messaging is messy, but the throughline is the same: Rahnama is suddenly a serious contender.

That would be a curveball. Rahnama’s résumé so far skews toward Indian film and TV work, including Netflix titles Bard of Blood and Drive and the series Smoke (according to her IMDb page). If she lands Gothel, it would be a high-profile Hollywood debut out of the gate.

Where the rest of the cast stands

Disney has not announced a single official casting yet. Still, the shortlist rumor mill has been grinding away:

• Mother Gothel: Paniz Rahnama is reportedly in the mix and has screen-tested. Scarlett Johansson was said to be in early contention but bowed out due to other commitments, including a reported turn as Poison Ivy in The Batman Part II (per THR).
• Rapunzel: THR has weighed in on the search, and across multiple reports, Sarah Catherine Hook (The White Lotus) has emerged as the name to watch.
• Flynn Rider: Multiple reports point to Milo Manheim, best known for Disney’s Zombies movies, as the likely pick.

If these pieces are accurate, the core trio is basically lined up, which usually means official confirmations are not far behind. Again, until Disney says it, it’s not locked.

A quick refresher on the original

Tangled came from directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, with Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, and Ron Perlman leading the voice cast. The movie was both a hit with critics and crowds (89% critics, 87% audience on Rotten Tomatoes) and at the box office ($591 million worldwide). No pressure, live-action team.

Scarlett Johansson might be behind the camera next

Even if Johansson isn’t Disney’s Gothel, she still wants to play in the studio’s sandbox — just possibly from the director’s chair. In a chat with Deadline about producing Black Widow, she was asked if she would ever direct an MCU project. Her answer was pretty clear:

"I think the movies that I like that are big action movies also have the human connectivity piece. Even producing Black Widow and being a part of the production of that, and the development of the story, and the story between Natasha and Yelena... [there is] I think, a way of doing it, a way of maintaining the integrity of the idea of human connection, family, disappointment, all of the things that were themes in [Eleanor the Great], and doing it in a giant way in a giant universe — there’s ways of doing that... So, yeah, definitely, it could be, it would be fun."

Translation: if Marvel hands her the keys, she’s game. And honestly, that tracks.

If the current Tangled chatter holds, expect Disney to lock things in publicly soon. In the meantime, Black Widow and Tangled are streaming on Disney+ in the US.