Rebecca Hall is re-teaming with her “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women” director Angela Robinson. The Golden Globe-nominated actress is set to make her directorial debut with “Passing,” and Robinson will exec produce the feature. Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga are signed on to star in the drama. Deadline broke the news.
Based on Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel, the pic centers on old friends who unexpectedly reunite. One of them has been living in Europe and “passes” as white. Their renewed acquaintance ignites a mutual obsession that threatens both of their carefully constructed realities,” the source hints. The novel is set in Harlem.
Picture Films’ Margot Hand and Sight Unseen’s Oren Moverman are producing.
“Nella Larsen’s ‘Passing’ is an astonishing book about two women struggling not just with what it meant to be black in America in 1929, but with gender conventions, the performance of femininity, the institution of marriage, the responsibilities of motherhood, and the ways in which all of those forces intersect,” Hall said. “I came across the novel at a time when I was trying to reckon creatively with some of my personal family history, and the mystery surrounding my bi-racial grandfather on my American mother’s side. In part, making this film is an exploration of that history, to which I’ve never really had access.”
Hall penned the script for “Passing.”
Robinson added, “Rebecca Hall is a brilliant artist who I’ve had the pleasure of working with and I’ve loved the Nella Larson novella ‘Passing’ since I first read it many years ago. When Rebecca told me about her family history and her passion to tell this story, I immediately signed on to help bring her vision of this incredible book to the screen,” said Robinson.
“The BFG” and “Christine” are among Hall’s recent acting credits. Her other on-screen work includes “Iron Man 2,” “The Town,” and “Vicky Christina Barcelona.”
Thompson can currently be seen in “Sorry to Bother You,” a dark comedy about a black telemarketer who adopts a white accent for his job. She stars in HBO’s “Westworld,” which concluded its second run in June. The sci-fi Western will be returning for a third season. “Annihilation, ” “Thor: Ragnarok,” and “Selma” are among her other credits.
Negga earned an Oscar nod for her role in “Loving.” She co-stars in AMC’s “Preacher,” which just kicked off its third season.
