Uzo Aduba, David Strathairn Join Ewan McGregor’s ‘American Pastoral’
Lakeshore Entertainment has added David Strathairn, Peter Riegert, “Orange Is the New Black” star Uzo Aduba and Valorie Curry to the cast of “American Pastoral,” with Ewan McGregor directing and starring.
Jennifer Connelly and Dakota Fanning have been previously announced as the female leads. McGregor will direct from John Romano’s adaptation of the Philip Roth novel, with filming scheduled for later this month in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Lakehore toppers Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi are producing.
The story follows Seymour “Swede” Levov, a legendary high school athlete who grows up to marry a former beauty queen and inherits his father’s business. His perfect life shatters when his daughter rebels by becoming a revolutionary and committing a deadly act of political terrorism during the Vietnam War.
Lakeshore first attempted to develop “Pastoral” in 2003, picking it up when Paramount’s option lapsed. In 2012, it attached Fisher Stevens to direct and had Sidney Kimmel co-financing.
The book, published in 1997, is the first novel in Roth’s American postwar trilogy, followed by “I Married a Communist” and “The Human Stain.”
Lakeshore has produced two other Roth adaptations — 2003’s “The Human Stain,” starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman, and 2008’s “Elegy,” starring Penelope Cruz and Ben Kingsley.
Strathairn is repped by ICM and Ryan Entertainment. Riegert is repped by Don Buchwald & Associates. Aduba is repped by APA and Management 360. Curry is repped by ICM and Thruline Entertainment.
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