Sarah Silverman is to join the cast of ‘Battle of the Sexes’.
The 45-year-old comic star will star alongside Emma Stone and Steve Carell in the true-life movie, which documents the 1973 tennis match that caught the world’s attention when a young Billie Jean King (Stone) challenged retired aging tennis pro Bobby Riggs (Carell) to a match.
The battle on the courts became a broadcast sensation when the No. 2-ranked female tennis pro defied the odds to beat the retired former Wimbledon champion.
Silverman will play Gladys Heldman, the founder of World Tennis Magazine in the film.
Gladys helped organize Billie Jean and other female players on a separate women’s only circuit when they felt they weren’t being paid as much as male players. She was later inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
The film, written by Slumdog Millionaire’s Simon Beaufoy, is being directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris – who also directed ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and ‘Ruby Sparks’.
And Danny Boyle will produce alongside Christian Colson via their companies Decibel Films and Cloud Eight.
Battle of The Sexes’ isn’t the only title in the works based on the infamous tennis match.
Currently in development is ‘Match Maker’ with Will Ferrell as Bobby, and ‘Proof’, in which Paul Giamatti will take the lead as Bobby and Elizabeth Banks will play Billie Jean.
Meanwhile, Silverman recently received a SAG nomination for her performance in the drama ‘I Smile Back’ and will soon appear as part of the cast of Colin Trevorrow’s ‘The Book of Henry’ – which is the follow up to last year’s hugely successful ‘Jurassic World’ and is set to star Naomi Watts, Dean Norris, Lee Pace, Jaeden Lieberher and Room’s young star Jacob Tremblay.
She’ll also be seen next in Universal’s comedy ‘Popstar: Never Stop Stopping’.
‘Battle of the Sexes’ is due to be released sometime in 2017.
Sarah Silverman in Battle of the Sexes
