Variety reports that Gemma Arterton (Prince of Persia, Clash of the Titans) has been cast as Dusty Springfield in the upcoming biopic So Much Love. The film will be set in 1968, and follow the British soul singer’s odyssey that led to her the city of Memphis, where she recorded her iconic album “Dusty in Memphis.”
“I have been an admirer of Dusty Springfield since I was a teenager: her effortless husky voice, the way she conveyed emotion through music, how she helped bring Motown to the U.K.,” Arterton said about her casting. “She was generous, witty, mercurial, shy, extrovert and a true English eccentric. I simply cannot wait to play her.”
A biopic of Springfield has been in the works for some time, with Nicole Kidman even in talks to star way back in 2008. Oscar-nominated director Phyllis Nagy (co-director of Carol) is slated to direct, making this her feature film debut as a solo director.
“Dusty Springfield has long been a hero of mine – an innovative, brilliant artist and a complex, contradictory woman. I can’t wait to bring her to life on screen. And to collaborate with an artist of Gemma’s caliber – she’s an amazing talent – is a writer-director’s dream come true,” said Nagy.
Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley’s Number 9 Films are on deck to produce. The film will be shopped around at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.
Though the singer was never quite as revered as some of her contemporaries at the time, she was still a respected artist. She experienced a brief resurgence of fame in the mid-1990s when director Quentin Tarantino used her song “Son of a Preacher Man” in his sophomore film Pulp Fiction.
In the meantime, Arterton will be the voice of Clover in the upcoming animated adaptation of Watership Down.
