Famous mime Marcel Marceau to be portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg in Resistance
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) has been cast in the role of well-known French mime Marcel Marceau in the upcoming film Resistance, according to Variety. The film will be written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz (Hands of Stone). The film is set around Marcel Marceau’s work with the French resistance during the Nazi occupation of World War II.
RELATED: Jesse Eisenberg Movies Spotlight
Marceau and his family fled to Limoges when he was 16 at the start of World War II. His father was captured and killed in Auschwitz. Marceau was taken by his mother to see a Charlie Chaplin film at a young age and used mime to help save the lives of Jewish children by keeping them quiet while he helped them escape to Switzerland and worked for the French resistance.
Resistance will begin production in early 2018. The film will be produced by Claudine Jakubowicz and Carlos Garcia de Paredes, who worked together for Hands of Stone. Marcel Marceau’s oldest son Baptiste has reportedly been closely involved with the research for the film and will executive produce. Marceau was made Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (1998) and was awarded the National Order of Merit (1998) in France for his work.