Eddie Redmayne (HBO’s upcoming The Miraculous Year) has been cast in the Marilyn Monroe biopic My Week With Marilyn.  Helmed by veteran television director Simon Curtis, the film is based in part on Colin Clark’s book The Prince, the Showgirl, and Me: Six Months on Set with Marilyn and Olivier.  The Playlist reports that Redmayne will play Clark, an employee of celebrated actor/director Laurence Olivier, whose published diary documents the tense relationship between Monroe and Olivier on the set of 1957’s The Prince and the Showgirl.

With shooting on the film set to commence in ten days, Redmayne joins a cast that already includes Michelle Williams (Monroe), Kenneth Branagh (Olivier), and Judi Dench (one of the stars of Prince, Sybil Thorndike).  For a better grasp on what to expect from My Week with Marilyn, hit the jump for a brief synopsis from Clark’s book.

Here’s the synopsis for Clark’s The Prince, the Showgirl, and Me: Six Months on Set with Marilyn and Olivier [from Amazon]:

Clark, son of historian Sir Kenneth Clark, spent his days just after college as third assistant director (read gofer) on the set of the 1957 British film The Prince and The Showgirl.  What made this film unique, and the reason Clark decided to keep a daily journal, was the unlikely pairing of Marilyn Monroe and Sir Lawrence Olivier in the title roles.

Monroe hoped this would give her a more serious image; Olivier hoped to boost his film career.  But Monroe was insecure; treated badly by her new husband, Arthur Miller; and often late and on drugs.  Olivier, the consummate professional, had no patience.