As you already see from our title – Julia Stiles is set to star in an upcoming Mary Pickford biopic The First, which comes from director Jennifer DeLia. Stiles will join previously announced Lily Rabe, Michael Pitt and Ryan Simpkins, and accodring to the latest reports – she will come on board to play Frances Marion, one of the top screenwriters during the early 20th Century!
So, at this moment we know that Jennifer DeLia will direct The First from Josh Fagin‘s script which is based on Eileen Whitfield‘s biography Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood which will tell us the story of a woman so ahead of her time who was living one of the most romantic love stories of all time.
As for the above mentioed cast – Lily Rabe is already set to play Pickford, while Michael Pitt is set to play Owen Moore.
When it comes to Frances Marion part of the story – we must admit that it definitely sounds like an interesting role for Julia Stiles, who most recently appeared in Silver Linings Playbook. In case you’re not so familiar with Marion’s name, she won Oscars for The Big House and The Champ and collaborated on numerous projects with Pickford.
According to their official Facebook Page, The First will:
…delve into Pickford’s life from a woman’s point of view and will illuminate the artistry, spirituality, and integrity that moved Mary Pickford through the ground-breaking and controversial world of her time. From 1892 through to her passing in 1979, Pickford was the powerhouse who, along with Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D. W. Griffith, created their own distribution company, United Artists, which was designed to serve the filmmakers rather than the studio heads. Known as America’s Sweetheart, Little Mary, and The Girl with the Curls, the Canadian-born Pickford was one of silent film’s most important performers and had international fame that reached heights never seen before, as for the first time, an idol emerged from moving images or ‘cinema.’ She was the biggest and most beloved movie star of the time; she was the face of the American Military; she was one of the 36 co-founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and she was an activist. She fulfilled missions that no one else in her time could have and no one since her could even imagine.
At the end of this report let us also add that Julie Pacino and Said Zahraoui will produce the movie along with co-producer Dominick Fairbanks.
Let us know what you think about the whole thing & stay tuned for more updates!
