Jason Isaacs Set To Play Cary Grant in The Biopic Series ARCHIE
Legendary Hollywood actor Cary Grant is the subject of a biopic series being developed by ITV and BritBox International titled Archie. Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter) has been cast in the role of Grant, and I’m sure he’ll be great in the role. Taking on the role of an actor like Grant seems like it might be a daunting task for any actor, but Isaac seems like the kind of actor that could pull it off.
Cary Grant led such a fascinating life and this is sure to make a wonderful series. Archie will “start with his birth in Bristol in 1904 and tell the story of a childhood spent in extreme poverty, dealing with his father’s adultery and the loss of older brother John. At 14, he joined music hall act the Bob Pender Troupe and moved to the U.S. and, soon after, Cary Grant was born.”
It’s explained that the show will “intercut scenes from 1961 when, at the height of his fame, Grant was desperately unhappy in his private life after two failed marriages. Grant then began wooing TV star Dyan Cannon, who was 30 years his junior and didn’t immediately fall for his charms. He married her in 1965 and retired from film acting one year later.”
Grant is recognized as one of Hollywood’s leading men, “gaining a reputation for his transatlantic accent, sense of comic timing and handsome, debonair demeanor over more than 70 films in a decades-long mid-twentieth century career.”
Isaacs said in a statement: “There was only one Cary Grant and I’d never be foolish enough to try to step into his iconic shoes. Archie Leach, on the other hand, couldn’t be further from the character he invented to save himself.”
Philomena and Stan & Ollie writer Jeff Pope is developing the series, and he said: “Cary Grant became one of the most iconic figures of the twentieth century, beloved by presidents and paupers. The key to everything lay in his childhood.”
Grant’s daughter, Jennifer Grant, and former wife Cannon both gave the Archie series their blessing, and described Pope’s script as “intelligent, understanding” and “capturing him so brilliantly.”
ITV Head of Drama Polly Hill added: “Jeff’s scripts beautifully tell the story of Archie, the Bristol boy who was abandoned by his father and ran away to Hollywood, where remarkably he transformed and became Cary Grant.”
If you’re not familiar with the life of Cary Grant, there’s a beautifully written podcast called Cary from The Secret History of Hollywood that you should listen to! That podcast is probably better than what this series will end up being.
Source: Deadline