‘Battle Of The Sexes’ Adds Eric Christian Olsen

NCIS: Los Angeles co-star Eric Christian Olsen has joined the cast of Fox Searchlight’s upcoming sports biopic Battle of the Sexes. Directed by Little Miss Sunshine duo Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, the film tells the story behind famous 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between 29-year old No. 2 ranked female player Billie Jean King and former champion Bobby Riggs – a match that stemmed from Riggs denigration of female players as inferior to the men. Olsen will portray Lornie Kuhle, a younger tennis pro and friend of Riggs, who becomes Riggs’ advisor after Riggs challenges female tennis pros. The film stars Emma Stone as King, with Steve Carrell as Riggs; Austin Stowell, Andrea Riseborough, and Elizabeth Shue also star.

Olsen has portrayed Detective Marty Deeks on NCIS: Los Angeles since the show’s first season. His other credits include Pearl Harbor, the 2011 remake of The Thing, and Celeste and Jesse Forever. He’s repped by UTA, Ellen Meyer Management, and attorney Gretchen Rush from Hansen/Jacobsen.

Talitha Bateman has signed on for a leading role in the independent thriller Vengeance: A Love Story, directed by and starring Nicolas Cage. The film charts the aftermath of the brutal rape of a young mother, Teena Maguire, whose daughter Bethie is the only witness to the crime. What at first looks like an easy conviction goes sideways when the rapists hire a very slick lawyer, who smears Bethie as a drunken brat and her mother as a prostitute. However, the crime catches the attention of officer John Dromoor, who steps in to dole out his own brand of bloody justice to the perpetrators. Bateman will play Bethie, with Cage as Dromoor.

Cage is directing from a script by John Mankiewicz, with Johnny Martin and Michael Mendelsohn producing. Bateman recently appeared in The 5th Wave with Chloe Moretz, and will soon be seen in Europacorp’s Nine Lives, opposite Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Garner. She also has a leading role in the Stephen Gyllenhaal-directed feature SO B. IT, and has booked a series regular role on the CBS comedy pilot Furst Born. She’s repped by Becky Poliakoff and Scott Faucett with Hg5 Entertainment, Coast To Coast Talent Group, and attorney Ryan Nord.