After being in developments for ages, two biopics of porn star turned anti-smut crusader Linda Lovelace are finally moving ahead, one with Malin Akerman in the lead role and Amanda Seyfried in the other. It's the latter, simply titled Lovelace, that seems the most interesting, and now it's got a few new cast members, as Variety reports that Juno Temple, Wes Bentley and Sharon Stone have signed on.
Linda Lovelace is a fascinating figure far beyond the titilation of being the star of one of the best known porn films in history - Deep Throat. Initially appearing in hardcore (and even bestiality) movies, at first Lovelace seemed to revel in her status. However during her divorce from Chuck Traynor (to be played by Peter Sarsgaard) in the late 70s, she claimed that he was violent and had forced her into pornography at gunpoint (with some evidence to back her up).
She said that her marriage was plagued with beatings and rape, and that when she appeared in porn, it was basically enforced prostitution. While there have been some disagreements as to the extent Lovelace was a willing participant in her porn career, there seems little doubt that her marriage to Traynor was viscious and cruel. She then became an anti-pornography champion, speaking at public events and testifying at government hearings on pornography. However she later said she felt used by the anti-pornography movement, which got a lot mileage out of having Lovelace as a convert, but which never helped her out. She died in a car accident in 2002.
Sharon Stone will play Linda Lovelace's mother Dorothy Boreman, Temple will be her best friend, while Bentley is set to play her second husband.
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (Howl) will direct from a screenplay by Merritt Johnson and Andy Bellin, which is adapted from Eric Danville's book, The Complete Linda Lovelace. Production is finally scheduled to begin in January,