Deadline reports that Suki Waterhouse, the breakout star of the 2018 black comedy thriller Assassination Nation, is joining Keira Knightley (The Aftermath) in the upcoming Miss World dramedy biopic Misbehaviour.
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Waterhouse, who’s joined a cast that also includes Greg Kinnear (House of Cards), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (A Wrinkle in Time), Jessie Buckley (Beast), Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread), Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard) and Rhys Ifans (Snowden), will portray the 1970 Miss USA Sandra Wolsfeld.
Misbehaviour will be based on the real-life story of the 1970 Miss World competition, which was then the most-watched TV show on the planet with more than 100 million viewers. The contest was held in London with Bob Hope himself serving as host. The 1970 Miss World became one of the most memorable and controversial events in pageant history when a global audience had witnessed the patriarchy driven from the stage and the Western ideal of beauty turned on its head.
One of the show’s issue was the sudden protest of the Women’s Liberation Movement, who claimed that beauty pageants demeaned women. The movement gained attention when they caused disruption during the live broadcast, but another controversy erupted when the results were announced, revealing that Miss Grenada won the most coveted title of that night, beating everyone’s favorite contestant. Miss Grenada became the first black woman to be crowned Miss World.
RELATED: Keira Knightley to Star in Dramedy Film Misbehaviour
BAFTA-winning director Philippa Lowthorpe (Netflix’s The Crown) is set to helm Misbehaviour with Rebecca Frayn to adapt the screenplay. Left Bank Pictures’ Suzanne Mackie and Sarah-Jane Wheale will serve as producers. Andy Harries and Left Banks’ Frayn along with Cameron McCracken and Jenny Borgars of Pathe are the film’s executive producers. Pathe will handle distribution of the film in the U.K., France and Switzerland as well as Misbehaviour‘s international sales.
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