'Fifty Shades Freed' Release Date, Cast News & Updates: E.L. James Welcomes Brant Daugherty

"Pretty Little Liars" star Brant Daugherty is the latest actor to sign on for "Fifty Shades Freed," the third installment from the highly anticipated "Fifty Shades" franchise. Daugherty will be playing the role of Luke Sawyer in the upcoming film, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.

Brant Daugherty will be playing the role of Luke Sawyer, the bodyguard Christian (Jamie Dornan) employs to keep a close eye on Anastasia (Dakota Johnson).

It was on Saturday when E.L. James took to announce some "Fifty Shades Freed" news on Twitter. "Welcome @brantdaugherty to #TeamFifty #FiftyShades Freed #Sawyer," wrote the best-selling author.

"Thanks for the warm welcome @E_L_James! I can't say how excited I am to bring Sawyer to life #FiftyShades," replied Daugherty on Twitter.

 It's official! I'll be joining the cast of #FiftyShadesFreed as Luke Sawyer. Can't wait for you all to see what we have in store...

A photo posted by Brant Daugherty (@brantdaugherty) on Feb 20, 2016 at 8:20am PST

A day after the news first broke out, Brant Daugherty decided to tweet his sentiments about everyone's response regarding his new role. "I love you guys," Brant wrote. "Today has been completely surreal. Thank you for all the support and the massive welcome to #FiftyShades."

I love you guys. Today has been completely surreal. Thank you for all the support and the massive welcome to #FiftyShades — Brant Daugherty (@brantdaugherty) February 21, 2016

Daugherty joins Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson, and the rest of the cast, which includes Bella Heathcote as Leila Williams, Eric Johnson as Jack Hyde, Arielle Kebbell as Gia Matteo, and Kim Basinger as Elena Lincoln. In addition, Deadline reports that Luke Grimes and Rita Ora will also be joining the "Fifty Shades Freed" cast.

The next two installments of the "Fifty Shades" franchise, "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed," will be directed by James Foley based on a screenplay written by Niall Leonard. The two sequels are set for back-to-back filming throughout Paris and Vancouver.

Day one #FSD Good luck to all the cast and crew ❤️ A photo posted by E L James (@erikaljames) on Feb 16, 2016 at 9:01am PST

"Fifty Shades Freed" is set for release on February 9, 2018.