BBC's 'War and Peace' miniseries could star Paul Dano, Lily James
The two actors are circling a miniseries adapted from the classic novel, Deadline reports.
Revealed in "Little Miss Sunshine" before garnering critical acclaim for supporting roles in "There Will Be Blood," "Prisoners" and "Twelve Years a Slave," Paul Dano could soon appear in the lead for a change. The 30-year-old actor has been offered the role of Pierre Bezukhov in an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" from the Weinstein Company and the BBC.
Lily James is also circling the miniseries, according to Deadline. The "Downton Abbey" star, who will soon be seen in theaters as "Cinderella" in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation, was offered the role of Natasha Rostova in the miniseries.
Announced in 2013, the project seems to finally be coming together with the news of these first potential recruits. The two actors would follow in the footsteps of Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn, who played the two lead roles in King Vidor's 1956 adaptation for the silver screen, and more recently Alexander Beyer and Clémence Poésy, who played the roles in a pan-European 2007 miniseries directed by Robert Dornhelm.
Like Tolstoy's novel, the miniseries will follow five aristocratic families in early 19th-century Russia. The project is written and executive produced by "Broadchurch" and "House of Cards" producer Andrew Davies.
BBC is slated to air "War and Peace" in the UK in 2015.
