According to Variety, Melissa Sagemiller has scored the lead female role in Disney's The Guardian alongside Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher.

Shooting under the helm of Andrew Davis begins in Shreveport, La., in December.

Penned by Ron Brinkerhoff with rewrites by Jamie Vanderbilt, the story centers on a Coast Guard ocean-rescue swimmer (Costner) haunted by tragedy. Kutcher plays a recruit who becomes his protege, with Sagemiller now aboard as Kutcher's love interest, a strong-willed schoolteacher.