Natalie Dormer to act and produce TV series on Oscar-winning actress Vivien Leigh
Two-time Oscar winning icon Vivien Leigh will have a new face on screen, courtesy Game of Thrones actor Natalie Dormer. The actress who is famous for playing Margaery Tyrell on GOT is teaming up with Fremantle Media and UK production company Mainstreet Pictures to produce a series focusing on Leigh's personal and professional struggles. The international distribution rights of the series, which is yet to be named, will be owned by producers of The American Gods.
“The story of the legendary movie star will be a compelling exploration of the woman who was transcendently known for some of the most memorable screen performances of all time,” Fremantle Media EVP and Creative Director, Global Drama, Christian Vesper shared with Deadline. “We’re looking forward to working with Natalie Dormer and Mainstreet Pictures to develop the series ready for global audiences.”
Mainstreet’s Sally Haynes and Laura Mackey added: “We are incredibly excited to be collaborating with the brilliant Natalie Dormer to play an iconic star like Vivien Leigh and to bring this extraordinary unknown story to a wider audience.”
The number of episodes for the project is still undetermined, but each episode is going to revolve around a specific project that Leigh had worked on. The show is going to focus on the Tony-award winning actor's 20-year marriage to Laurence Olivier, her issues with mental health, career, female empowerment and love too. In addition to that, all of 1940's Hollywood glamour will be depicted throughout also.
The show's screenwriter is supposed to be Stewart Harcourt, who was the man behind 2016’s Michael Gambon-starrer Churchill’s Secret. Apart from films the actor has done, the project is also to draw details from Kendra Bean’s 2013 biography, Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait.
As for Dormer, the Game of Thrones and Hunger Games alum is also soon to be seen in the latest TV adaptation of Picnic At Hanging Rock, an Amazon limited series and also the movie adaptation of In Darkness. Both come out tomorrow. In an interview with Deadline’s Next Generation TV Dormer also revealed that's she is interested in exploring her talents behind the camera too.