After his turn last year in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, actor Austin Stowell is joining the cast of the upcoming film Battle of the Sexes, reports Deadline.
Stowell, who played Francis Gary Powers opposite Tom Hanks in the Cold War thriller, will star in the film as Larry King, husband to female tennis star Billie Jean King played by Emma Stone (Birdman). Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) are directing the film from a script by Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire).
The film will be a “character based comedy with dramatic and political overtones” and tells the story of the famous 1973 tennis match dubbed the Battle of the Sexes, where a 29 year-old King played and beat former male champ Bobby Riggs after the latter spent many years stating how the female game was inferior the the males. It will also “examine King’s personal struggle as a lesbian” after an affair with her secretary Marilyn Barnett.
Steve Carell (The Big Short) plays Riggs in the film with Stone’s Birdman co-star Andrea Riseborough portrayingwill play Barnett. Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas) is also on board.
While no official release date has been announced, expect to see Battle of the Sexes in 2017.
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Originally published March 23, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
