Northern Irish filmmaker Mary McGuckian is currently in pre-production on a biopic of hugely influential Irish architect and designer Eileen Gray, starring Shannyn Sossamon in the lead role - with a kickstarter campaign in motion to rebuild Gray’s French villa for the shoot.
Mary McGuckian, who attended this year’s John Ford Ireland Symposium, is best known for directing ‘Man on the Train’ featuring U2’s Larry Mullen Jr, and ‘The Bridge Of San Luis Rey’ starring Gabriel Byrne and Robert De Niro.
Alanis Morissette has signed on to play Gray’s lover Marisa Damia, while Swiss actor Vincent Perez will play Gray’s nemesis Le Corbusier.
Money raised from the kickstarter campaign will go towards the restoration of Gray's villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in France, which will remain open for public viewing once filming is complete.
Shannyn Sossamon rose to prominence in 2001’s ‘A Knight’s Tale’ opposite Heath Ledger and has appeared in such films as ’40 day and 40 Nights’ and Shane Black’s ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’.
Although better known for her singing career, Alanis Morissette has acted in such TV shows as ‘Weeds’, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and ‘Sex and The City’.
An Irish-Belgian venture, the film is a co-production between EG Film Productions, Pembridge Pictures and Lightstream Pictures, in association with Dublin’s Windmill Lane Pictures and Belgium’s Saga Film.
A start date for principal photography is expected to be announced soon.
