If you either recognize Lily Rabe as the tortured Nora Montgomery from American Horror Story or Deborah Lehrman from All Good Things, there’s no denying that she has an uncanny resemblance to the legendary actress Mary Pickford. This resemblance hasn’t gone unnoticed, seeing as Variety has just reported that the actress will be playing Pickford in an upcoming biopic we reported on just a few weeks ago.
Based from Eileen Whitifield‘s biography titled Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood, Julie Pacino and Jennifer DeLia will be producing the biopic, which will chronicle the life and work of Pickford. Josh Fagin will be penning the script, with production beginning early next year.
The film, which is currently untitled, “will center on events in silent-screen superstar Pickford‘s life including her founding, with Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith, of United Artists, which was designed to support filmmakers rather than studio heads, and her part in the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.”
It’s surprising that no one has made a film about the legnedary actress until just now. Aside from a few documentaries, the life of Pickford and her duties to Hollywood seem to be generally unknown by general moviegoers. This biopic will be a great chance for Rabe to show her acting talents, as well as her ability to embody a silent-era film star.
Pacino and DeLia are currently soaking up the rays in Cannes, as they have started the search to cast the five important people in Pickford‘s life: Chaplin, Fairbanks, Charlotte Hennessy (her mother and manager), journalist and author Frances Marion as well as Griffith.
Are you interested in seeing a film about Pickford’s life?