Keira Knightley to Play Bisexual Novelist Colette in Upcoming Film from Carol Producers

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Keira Knightley is pretty much the master of period pieces, so we're thrilled to learn her next project will take her to 1900s France as bisexual novelist Colette. Deadline first reported the news, announcing that not only is Knightly in talks to play the role, but that the film will reunite Carol producing teams Number 9 Films and Killer Films. It will be directed by Wash Westmoreland (Still Alice), and he also co-wrote the script with his late husband and collaborator Richard Glatzer, who passed away last year.

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette is most famously known as the author of Gigi and Cheri, and she also received a nomination for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Her introduction to writing was turbulent, with her first husband Willy publishing her first few stories under his own name and taking the credit. Additionally (as legend has it) he would lock Colette in her room for hours until she provided a quality product. Some of her first works, the Claudine series, feature lesbian themes and relationships, and Colette herself was bisexual.

Keira Knightley is no stranger to a time traveling in her roles, with some of her most prominent appearances occurring in classic fair like Pride and Prejudice, Anna Karenina, and Atonement. She also recently completed a run as the title role in Thérèse Raquin on Broadway. And, of course, with the Carol team behind it, we feel pretty confident this film will hit all the right notes. Time to start the countdown to Colette!