Sean Astin joins Charming the Hearts of Men

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Sean Astin has joined 'Charming the Hearts of Men'.

The 48-year-old actor - who is best known for his role as Samwise Gamgee in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy and Mikey Walsh in 'The Goonies' - has joined the cast of the upcoming indie romance set in a "politically charged era" alongside Kelsey Grammer.

The new film has been written by Susan DeRose, who will also helm the project; while Richard T. Lewis will produce and cameras will roll this August in Georgia.

The movie is set in 1964 and will centre on the creation of legislation which allowed for the Time's Up movement today.

The film has been described as a "fictional account inspired by true events that altered the world for women in America and deals with the discrimination that both black and white women suffered".

'Frasier' star Kelsey, 64, is set to play Southern Congressman Worth - who meets Grace Gordon, a woman who has returned home due to the sudden death of her father to find herself in a society with "little hope and virtually no power without a male provider" and the pair embarks on a mission to change society for the better.

Sean recently starred as Bob Newby in Season Two of the Netflix series 'Stranger Things' which takes place in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s and follows a group of friends, including a mysterious girl named Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) with psychokinetic abilities, who attempt to navigate their lives amid supernatural events occurring around the town.

Sean plays a kind-hearted former nerd who went to high school with mum Joyce (Winona Ryder) and now manages the local Hawkins RadioShack.