COVID-19 is taking “A German Life” in an unexpected direction. A screen version of the one-woman play about the life of Brunhilde Pomsel, Nazi politician and minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels’ secretary, is in the works with Maggie Smith set to reprise the role she played at The Bridge Theatre in London’s West End. Variety reports that the pandemic put the brakes on a planned Broadway run, so screenwriter-playwright Christopher Hampton (“Atonement”) “turned to cinema as a solution.” Jonathan Kent will make his feature directorial debut on the film.

“A German Life” is based on a series of interviews that Pomsel gave when she was 103.

“What I’ve been doing is writing it as a screenplay about this woman in her retirement home in 2013 talking about her life,” Hampton told Variety. “The film script was more difficult to write than the stage play. Sometimes she looks out the window and sees characters, but otherwise, it’s all just her through the course of the day talking about her memories.”

A six-time Academy Award nominee, Smith took home Oscars for her roles in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and “California Suite.” “Downton Abbey” and “The Lady in the Van” are among the “Harry Potter” star’s more recent credits.