Swank to Star as Lipstadt
Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank has signed on to play Emory University professor Deborah Lipstadt in a big-screen adaptation of Lipstadt’s court battle against Holocaust denier David
Irving.
David Hare will write the script for “Denial” based on Lipstadt’s account of her English libel trial against Irving, “History on Trial.” Hare was twice nominated for the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay, for “The Reader” in 2008 and “The Hours” in 2002, so he’s good at turning books into screenplays.
“This is a powerful story about the legal and personal battle Deborah Lipstadt fought to defend the veracity of historical facts. No one has the right to erase history by distorting the truth, and David Hare’s brilliant script weaves a relevant and thrilling journey,” said a statement from the producing team of Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff, who produced the TV show “Community” and such dramatic films as “Emperor” and “The Soloist.”
Veteran British actor Tom Wilkinson, recently seen as President Lyndon Johnson in “Selma,” will join Swank in front of the camera as a lawyer. Mick Jackson, who directed the HBO movie “Temple Grandin,” is set to direct.
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