Tom Holland has been trying to get his Fred Astaire biopic off the ground for a few years, and it’s finally happening. He said it was next, following the record-breaking success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, with a January start date planned. And now comes word from Page Six that the list of candidates to play the female lead is down to two.
According to the report, Monica Barbaro and Margaret Qualley are the final contenders to play Adele Astaire, Fred’s older sister who performed dance numbers with him in vaudeville shows and on Broadway. The two worked together for nearly three decades.
Both Qualley and Barbaro have dance training, which would make them good fits for the role.
Qualley can be seen right now in Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars. She’s someone who has literally gotten better with each film. Next up for her is Rachel Morrison’s Love of Your Life, which will premiere at TIFF. I’ll be there for that one.
Barbaro was most recently in the dud rom-com, One Night Only. She’s really in demand right now following her Oscar-nominated performance in A Complete Unknown and her role in Crime 101. Later this year, she’ll be in Luca Guadagnino’s OpenAI drama, Artificial.
There’s some beef going on between the Astaire estate, which claims Fred didn’t want projects like this about his life, and the filmmakers at Sony, including producer Amy Pascal and director Paul King. Looks like the movie is happening, anyway, but won’t be billed as an “authorized” biopic.
