Bond girls Gemma Arterton and Eva Green to play lesbian lovers in Virginia Woolf biopic ‘Vita and Virginia‘
Green will play Woolf, while Arterton will play the poet, novelist and garden designer Sackville-West, whose androgynous good looks inspired the gender-changing protagonist of Woolf’s novel Orlando.
Virginia Stephen married Leonard Woolf in 1912, and then met socialite and author Vita Sackville-West, wife of Harold Nicolson, in 1922. They began a sexual relationship that lasted nearly a decade, as shown in their various letters and diary entries. After their affair ended, they remained friends until Woolf’s death in 1941.
Mike Goodridge, CEO of production company Protagonist Pictures: “We just love this witty and evocative screenplay by Eileen Atkins and Chanya Button. This is a playful and sexual Virginia Woolf, far removed from the gloom often associated with her, and Vita Sackville-West is a vivacious and flamboyant character who dominates high society in London in the 1920s.”
Eva Green and Gemma Arterton will star in drama Vita & Virginia, based on the true story of the love affair and friendship between literary icon Virginia Woolf and author Vita Sackville-West.
The film will be directed by British helmer Chanya Button (Burn, Burn, Burn) from a script by Eileen Atkins based on her own play of the same name, which debuted in 1992.
Virginia Stephen married Leonard Woolf in 1912, and then met socialite and author Vita Sackville-West, wife of Harold Nicolson, in 1922. They began a sexual relationship that lasted nearly a decade, as shown in their various letters and diary entries. After their affair ended, they remained friends until Woolf’s death in 1941.
Eva Green – ‘The Dreamers’ (2003)
Green will play Woolf, while Arterton will play the poet, novelist and garden designer Sackville-West, whose androgynous good looks inspired the gender-changing protagonist of Woolf’s novel Orlando.
Sackville-West’s son Nigel Nicholson wrote about the book: “The effect of Vita on Virginia is all contained in Orlando, the longest and most charming love letter in literature, in which [Woolf] explores Vita, weaves her in and out of the centuries, tosses her from one sex to the other, plays with her, dresses her in furs, lace and emeralds, teases her, flirts with her, drops a veil of mist around her.”
The film will focus on 1927-1928, the period in which Woolf wrote Orlando. Button said the film “will be a visceral love story, a vivid exploration of creativity, and an energized perspective on one of our most iconic writers.”
Mike Goodridge, CEO of production company Protagonist Pictures, added “We just love this witty and evocative screenplay by Eileen Atkins and Chanya Button. This is a playful and sexual Virginia Woolf, far removed from the gloom often associated with her, and Vita Sackville-West is a vivacious and flamboyant character who dominates high society in London in the 1920s.”
Katie Holly of Blinder Films (Love & Friendship) and Evangelo Kioussis of Mirror Productions are producing the project while Simon Baxter will executive produce for Mirror alongside Green and Arterton. Protagonist is introducing the project to buyers at EFM in Berlin.
Green was most recently seen in Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and White Bird in a Blizzard with Shailene Woodley. She’ll soon be seen in Euphoria with Alicia Vikander and Roman Polanski’s Based on a True Story. She is repped by UTA and Tavistock Wood Management in the U.K.
Arterton‘s recently films include Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest with Sam Claflin, and she has The Escape with Dominic Cooper coming up. She’s also attached to Julie Delpy’s My Zoe. She’s repped by CAA, Independent Talent Group in the U.K. and Stone, Genow.