Update: The film will begin shooting on July 9th, Le Journal de Quebec reports.
After completing work on his Marion Cotillard-led drama It’s Only the End of the World, which we’ll hopefully see at Cannes, Xavier Dolan is now getting ready to shoot his follow-up, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, this spring. With Jessica Chastain, Kit Harrington, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, and even Adele taking part, the cast has now expanded further.
Natalie Portman, Nicholas Hoult, Thandie Newton, Michael Gambon, Bella Thorne, Chris Zylka and Emily Hampshire have all joined the drama, according to Deadline. Technically a period piece as it partially takes place in the early 2000s, it delves into themes of identity and fame in showbiz, and focuses on a young actor reminiscing on a past pen pal relationship with his American TV idol. Describing the film, Dolan said, “It is a movie about a man trying to make it, trying to live his dream and his life all at once, and being told that he basically can’t.”
Although their roles haven’t been revealed yet, with what we imagine is his dream cast, we certainly can’t wait to see what his English-language debut brings. Check out the full synopsis below.
The film takes place in the early 2000s and centers on the tribulations of John F Donovan (Harington), an American TV star in his late 20s, and his correspondence with Rupert Turner, a young actor-to-be living with his mother in England. Their lives take dramatic turns when the existence of their pen pal relationship is publicly exposed, eliciting the most ill-founded assumptions and sending Donovan in a vertical downfall. A decade later, the young actor recollects his relationship with his past idol over the course of an interview.
What do you think of the cast?