Key Takeaways
- Sabrina Carpenter will play Ginger Rogers opposite Tom Holland's Fred Astaire in Paul King's untitled biopic, with Margaret Qualley joining as Fred's sister and first dance partner, Adele Astaire, according to Deadline.
- Director Paul King said no footage of Adele Astaire dancing survives, making the challenge of bringing her and Fred's legacy to the screen impossible to imagine without Holland, Qualley, and Carpenter.
- Holland revealed the project himself in December 2021 and says he wants the film's dance numbers shot the way Fred Astaire filmed them, in single takes with no doubles.
- Paul King wrote the script with Steven Levenson based on Kathleen Riley's book "The Astaires: Fred & Adele," and Fred Astaire's daughter Ava Astaire McKenzie is supporting the project.
Sabrina Carpenter is set to portray half of most famous dance partnerships in film history, signing on to play Ginger Rogers opposite Tom Holland's Fred Astaire.
Margaret Qualley is joining the untitled biopic too, according to Deadline, which confirmed the two castings Friday. Qualley will play Adele Astaire, Fred's older sister and his partner on Broadway before Hollywood ever came calling.
Director Paul King put the sister at the center of the film in a statement announcing the news.
"I am thrilled and honored to have been entrusted with telling the story of Fred Astaire and his original dance partner, his big sister Adele, to the big screen," King said. "Fred left a timeless legacy of dance on film, most famously in his collaborations with Ginger Rogers, while Adele's work has been lost to history; indeed, no footage of her dancing survives. The cinematic challenge of bringing to life these icons of the 20th century is one that I could not imagine without Tom Holland, Margaret Qualley and Sabrina Carpenter by my side."
King, who directed Wonka and the first two Paddington films, wrote the script with Steven Levenson, adapting Kathleen Riley's book "The Astaires: Fred & Adele." Riley is also on board as script and story consultant.
Amy Pascal and Rachel O'Connor produce for Pascal Pictures, with Ben Holden and Josh Hyams of Lightbulb Pictures and Holland through his Billy17 banner. The Astaire family is involved as well: Fred's daughter Ava Astaire McKenzie is supporting the project, and her son Tyler McKenzie serves as consultant and co-producer.
The announcement lands nearly five years after Holland let the news slip himself, telling the Associated Press in December 2021 that the script had just arrived and that Pascal had FaceTimed him about it while he was in the bath.
Holland has since started putting in the hours, and he wants the dancing on screen to be his own, shot the way Astaire shot it, in single takes with no doubles.
"I did my first few rehearsals recently, and it both filled me with excitement and absolute dread," Holland said. "Because I've got so much work to do to try to do Fred proud."
