Number 9 Films has announced that Rooney Mara is attached to star opposite Cate Blanchett in Todd Haynes’ Carol.
Having recently worked with David Fincher on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Steven Soderbergh on Side Effects, Rooney will next be seen in Spike Jonze’s Her, Stephen Daldry’s Trash and opposite Casey Affleck in Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.
Produced by Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley from Number 9 Films, Carol starts shooting Spring 2014.
It has been adapted for the screen by Phyllis Nagy (Mrs Harris) and is based on renowned suspense author Patricia Highsmith’s novella (‘Strangers on a Train’, ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’). It is co-developed and co-financed by Film4. Christine Vachon’s Killer Films will co-produce.
HanWay Films is handling international sales which include The Weinstein Company in the US, eOne in Canada, Icon in Australia and TF1 in France.
Carol is a love story about pursuit, betrayal and passion that follows the burgeoning relationship between two very different women in 1950s New York. One, a girl in her twenties working in a department store who dreams of a more fulfilling life, and the other, a wife trapped in a loveless, moneyed marriage desperate to break free.
Todd Haynes said: "We're over the moon to have Rooney on board. I've been a tremendous admirer of her work from the beginning, so the thought of bringing her together with Cate onscreen is thrilling to say the least."
Elizabeth Karlsen added: "Rooney Mara is one of the most interesting and striking young talents working today. There are few actors who have the weight to play against someone with the extraordinary distinction and mercurial range of Cate Blanchett and she is one of them.
"The combination of them both is something potentially sensational. It is a testament to Todd Haynes as a director and the quality of the script that we have managed to attract this exciting calibre of actor."
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