Daisy Edgar-Jones will play legendary singer-songwriter, Carole King, in Beautiful, a movie adaptation of the Broadway production Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. The musical will be helmed by Oscar-nominee Lisa Cholodenko. Variety reports that the long-in-the-works adaptation is moving forward; Sony acquired the rights to the musical, as well as King's songs, seven years ago.
King herself approves of Edgar-Jones' casting, saying "Daisy has a spirit and energy that I recognized as myself when I was younger. She’s a tremendous talent and I know she’s going to give a great performance." King is one of the most successful female songwriters of all time, having written or co-written over 100 Billboard hits; she also achieved success performing her own songs with the chart-topping 1971 album Tapestry. Beautiful, the Broadway production based on her life and set to a soundtrack of her songs, ran for five years, and netted Jessie Mueller a Tony for her lead performance. This won't be the first time King's life has been adapted for the screen; the 1996 Allison Anders film Grace of My Heart, starring Illeana Douglas, was loosely based on King's life and career.
English actor Edgar-Jones starred in the British TV series Cold Feet and War of the Worlds, before breaking out worldwide in the acclaimed miniseries Normal People. 2022 has been a banner year for her, as she starred in the true crime miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven, the black comedy thriller Fresh, and the surprise Southern Gothic hit Where the Crawdads Sing. Cholodenko made her feature debut with the acclaimed Ally Sheedy indie drama High Art; she subsequently directed Laurel Canyon and Cavedweller before her biggest mainstream success, the 2010 sleeper hit The Kids Are All Right. That film, in which Annette Bening and Julianne Moore play a lesbian couple who meet the biological father (Mark Ruffalo) of their two children, was a hit with audiences and critics, earning Cholodenko Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Since then, Cholodenko has directed for a number of TV series, including Olive Kitteridge, Unbelievable, and The Girl From Plainville; Beautiful will be her return to feature directing.
Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, with whom she co-wrote The Kids Are All Right, did a pass on Beautiful's script. Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman of Playtone will produce the film with Paul Blake, the stage show's producer. Sherry Kondor, Christine Russell, Steven Shareshian, and Mike Bosner will executive produce.
Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
Check out our interview with Edgar-Jones below: