EXCLUSIVE: Matt Smith, best known for playing Doctor Who in that iconic BBC series, is taking on another larger-than-life figure. He has landed the lead role as avant-garde photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in a biopic titled Mapplethorpe in the works from writer-director Ondi Timoner, the two-time Sundance-winning director whose 2015 pic Brand: A Second Coming opened SXSW last year. Girls regular Zosia Mamet has been cast to play Patti Smith, Mapplethorpe’s one-time lover and best friend.
Timoner, who won at Sundance for DIG in 2004 and We Live In Public in 2009, is also producing with Sirad Balducci and Eliza Dushku. The project has the backing of the Mapplethorpe Foundation, and a summer production start is in the works. CAA and UTA co-rep the project.
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Mapplethorpe, who died of AIDS in 1989 at 42, is the subject of the HBO documentary Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures, which bowed Friday in the Documentary Premieres section at Sundance and is from the docu duo of Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato.
In addition to playing the good Doctor, Smith is next up on the movie side in Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, opposite Lily James, Jack Huston and Sam Riley, and is filming Netflix series The Crown, playing Prince Philip to Claire Foy’s Queen Elizabeth. Mamet is currently in Weiner-Dog, the Todd Solondz pic at Sundance, and she is back for Season 5 of HBO’s Lena Dunham series Girls, which returns February 21.
Said Timoner: “After several years of developing this script and searching across the globe for the perfect talent to embody the rich and layered roles of visionary artists Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith, I am ecstatic to have found Matt Smith and Zosia Mamet. They will bring indelible passion, raw humanity, and authenticity to this timeless, inspiring story.”
Smith is repped by UTA and Troika, Mamet by UTA and 3 Arts. Timoner is repped by CAA and Anonymous Content.
no.
These are two of the most boring actors in the industry. FLOP
No one is forcing you to watch it.
Zosia Mamet as Patti Smith??!?!! Please no, This has got to be a joke, this movie is already a turd.
Patti has no problem with the casting so the question is – who the F are you?
Glad to see Matt Smith tackling more complex roles! Incredible actor. Haven’t seen Girls, but Mamet is a good ringer for Patti Smith looks-wise. Looking forward to seeing how this goes.
Love that Matt is continuing to pick up really interesting roles. While PP&Z is unlikely to bother the Oscars next year, Matt is sensationally good as Mr Collins and steals the film effortlessly. The Crown from Netlfix is going to be the big one for him though. I would not be surprised that he gets awards attention for that and it will break for him big in the US in the same way he’s a household name in the UK. Mapplethorpe looks like a perfect fit. He has a real chameleon quality about him – he can look handsome and weird at the same time. Regardless of looks, he’s a truly first rate actor and an exciting stage presence as well. Hoping he’ll do some more live theatre in the future as it was there that his career really took off.
Zosia Mamet is a competent enough actress; I like her in Girls, but she seems a little miscast in this role. I guess we’ll find out when it’s out.
Not horrific casting. Would have preferred Jemima Kirke if that’s the direction they’re going in.