ABOVE: Rachel Weisz at the Montclair Film Festival in 2018. (Photo by Neil Grabowsky, from Wikimedia Commons)
Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz is stepping into the role of one of Hollywood’s most iconic stars during one of the most controversial times in her life.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Weisz will play Elizabeth Taylor in the biopic “A Special Relationship.” The movie will focus on Taylor’s friendship with her assistant Roger Wall, a gay man who grew up in the homophobic “Deep South,” and her AIDS activism in the 1980s.
The film is being produced by See-Saw Films, the production company behind “The King’s Speech” and “Lion,” from a script penned by the Oscar-winning writer of “Slumdog Millionaire,” Simon Beaufoy. “A Special Relationship” will be directed by female film-making duo Bert & Bertie. Beaufoy’s script has been drawn from hours of interviews and exclusive conversations he had with the people who knew Taylor.
“Audiences are clearly fascinated by the private lives of iconic Hollywood stars,” said See-Saw Films’ Iain Canning and Emile Sherman to The Hollywood Reporter. “There is no one more iconic than Elizabeth Taylor, and Simon Beaufoy has written a role that shines a light on Elizabeth’s humor and humanity which will be beautifully brought to life through the extraordinary talents of Rachel Weisz. At its heart, ‘A Special Relationship’ is a story of friendship and what better way of guaranteeing that translates to the screen than trusting the directing talents of real-life best friends and creative collaborators Bert & Bertie. ‘Troop Zero’ dazzled audiences at Sundance and, like that film, ‘A Special Relationship’ is a celebration of how friendships can change people’s lives, and how Elizabeth helped change the world.”
See-Saw Films will produce “A Special Relationship” with Barbara Berkowitz, Tim Mendelson and Quinn Tivey, trustees of the Elizabeth Taylor Estate/House of Taylor Trust. A release date and further details on the film have yet to be announced.
