Today in perfect casting news, Olivia Colman is slated to star in the upcoming Elena Ferrante adaptation The Lost Daughter. According to Variety, the Oscar winner will play a college professor whose “psychological trauma begins to resurface” after meeting a young woman (Dakota Johnson) and her daughter on vacation.
The film, based on Ferrante’s 2008 novel of the same name, marks Maggie Gyllenhaal’s first directing and writing credit. Jessie Buckley and Gyllenhaal’s partner, Peter Sarsgaard, will also star.
In a statement, Gyllenhaal said, “When I finished reading Elena Ferrante’s The Lost Daughter, I felt that something secret and true had been said out loud. And I was both disturbed and comforted by that.” She added, “I immediately thought how much more intense the experience would be in a movie theatre, with other people around. And I set to work on this adaptation. I find that the script has attracted other people interested in exploring these secret truths about motherhood, sexuality, femininity, desire. And I’m thrilled to continue my collaboration with such brave and exciting actors and filmmakers.”
It’s a big year for the Ferrante fandom. In June, Europa Editions will publish The Lying Life of Adults, Ferrante’s first novel since concluding the Neapolitan Novels in 2015. And on March 16, My Brilliant Friend, the HBO adaptation of Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, will premiere its second season.
As for Colman, she’s busy completing season 4 of The Crown, set to premiere later this year on Netflix. She also made a delightful speech before presenting the Oscar for Best Actor at Sunday night’s Academy Awards.