by Murtada
click to embiggenHere’s our first look at Elizabeth Debicki as Virginia Woolf in Vita & Virginia, currently shooting in Ireland. The film will tell the story of the love affair between the noted author and socialite Vita Sackville-West (played by Gemma Arterton). Set in 1920s London, Vita & Virginia is the sophomore feature of director Chanya Button, following 2015 comedy drama Burn Burn Burn.
The clincher here though is the involvement of Dame Eileen Atkins, a Woolf scholar and the definitive authority on the famous writer...
Atkins co-wrote the screenplay with Button and the film is based on her play which was first performed in London in 1993 and off Broadway the following year. The play itself is based on the love letters between Sackville-West and Woolf. (Trivia note: Atkins is also in The Hours, which is itself obsessed with Virginia Woolf. She plays the woman who sells the flowers to Meryl Streep)
The film will also star Isabella Rossellini in an as yet not announced role. But the marquee part here is Woolf. As we know playing a really famous person can jumpstart a career or take it up a few notches, if the film works of course. And this particular role has been good to at least one other actress.
When I saw The Great Gatsby in 2013, I said that it’ll be remembered as the first film in a great actress’ long distinguished career. However despite fun turns in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Debicki hasn’t really revealed herself as a star yet. Maybe this will be the one.