According to MTV Blogs, sixteen year old pop sensation AJ Michalka has just joined the cast of Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones. The young actress stated, "It's like a dream role. I'm playing the best friend of the girl who gets murdered. I was flipping out [when I heard I won the part]. I'm really, really stoked."

The film is an adaptation of Alice Sebold's best selling novel. The plot follows a murdered fourteen-year-old girl who recounts the events of her death from heaven. AJ is set to play Clarissa, the murdered girl's best friend. Ryan Gosling and Susan Sarandon also star in the film.

Michalka said, "I have a really emotional, intense, freaky scene with Ryan. It's gonna be crazy. He was so incredible in "Half Nelson". It's just great for me as an actress to grow and work with such amazing people. The whole cast is amazing. Peter, he's amazing. It's gonna be cool. It's gonna be really cool."

The Lovely Bones opens in 2009.