OHMYGOSSIP — Samantha Morton has joined the cast of ‘She Said’.
The 44-year-old star is attached to the new drama about the New York Times newspaper’s investigation department that oversaw the revelations of a series of alleged sexual harassment incidents and assaults on women by the disgraced movie mogul in 2017.
Samantha will play Zelda Perkins, a former assistant to Weinstein who endured his abuse and later found herself bound by conflicting non-disclosure agreements.
The new drama is based on the book ‘She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement’. Maria Schrader is directing the flick from a script by Oscar-winning screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz.
Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan will also star as journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who delivered the bombshell revelations.
Patricia Clarkson and Andre Braugher will also feature as the newspaper’s investigations department editor Rebecca Corbett and the paper’s executive editor Dean Baquet respectively.
The revelations led to Weinstein being dismissed from the Weinstein Company board and eventually being jailed for 23 years, and ultimately resulted in the creation of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements.
The focus of the film isn’t Weinstein or the scandal, but the female team of journalists who defied intimidation and threats of legal action to break the story.
In 2018, Plan B Entertainment and Annapurna Pictures optioned the rights to ‘She Said’ under their co-production deal.
Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner with produce for Plan B, and Megan Ellison will executive produce for Annapurna with Sue Neagle.
In addition, Universal Vice President of Production Lexi Barta will oversee the project for the studio.