Jason Isaacs has been cast as Hollywood icon Cary Grant in a new four-part biopic which is set to debut on ITV later this year. The series will be called Archie, in reference to Grant’s birth name, Archibald Alexander Leach.
Written by award-winning screenwriter Jeff Pope, the drama series will delve into the actor’s history, from his childhood roots in Bristol, UK to his eventual rise to Hollywood superstardom.
Grant is widely recognised as one of the greatest Hollywood film stars of the classic era. With his distinctive transatlantic accent, debonair charm and impeccable comic timing, he began to personify Hollywood’s Golden Age appearing in classics such as The Philadelphia Story, Bringing Up Baby, Arsenic and Old Lace, and North by Northwest.
However, behind his suave on-screen persona, there lied unresolved childhood trauma.
The biopic will capture the actor’s difficult beginnings in life, living in extreme poverty and struggling to process his father’s adultery and the loss of his older brother, John. When he turned 14, he joined a music hall act called the Bob Pender Troupe as a stilt walker, eventually moving to America.
Following a chance encounter with comedian George Burns, he landed a contract with Paramount Pictures, adopting a new stage name – Cary Grant was born.
The series will cut between these two personas; Archie Leech’s youth in Bristol and Cary Grant at the height of his fame in 1961. However, amidst the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, Grant was still struggling deeply in his private life, suffering from depression and coming to terms with his two failed marriages. Episodes will also explore the relationship with Dyan Cannon, who was 30 years his junior.
In a statement to Variety, Isaacs spoke about the actor’s legacy, discussing how his on-screen persona became an alter ego: “there was only one Cary Grant and I’d never be foolish enough to try to step into his iconic shoes. Archie Leach, on the other hand, couldn’t be further from the character he invented to save himself.”
“Jeff’s brilliant scripts bring to life his relentless struggle to escape the demons that plagued him, his obsessive need for control, his fears, his weaknesses, his loves and his losses. It’s the story of a man, not a legend, and those are shoes I can’t wait to walk in,” he added.
ITV Studios will produce the series which will be a flagship premiere on soon-to-launch streamer ITVX.
Words by Katie Heyes
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