The cast for Jeff Pope’s biopic series Archie has been announced. The series about legendary actor Cary Grant’s life will star Jason Isaacs alongside a well-rounded cast, including Laura Aikman as Grant’s ex-wife.
According to Deadline, the complete cast for Pope’s biopic series has now been set. In August, it was announced that Isaacs, who is known for his role as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, amidst many other television and film credits, will be stepping into the role of Grant during the height of his fame. “There was only one Cary Grant, and I’d never be foolish enough to try to step into his iconic shoes,” Isaacs said in an earlier statement about his new role. He will now be joined by Aikman (The Rising), who will play Grant’s ex-wife Dyan Cannon and Harriet Walter (Succession), who will star as Grant’s mother, Elise Leach. A young version of Archie Leach (Grant’s birth name) will be played simultaneously by Dainton Anderson (Patrick Melrose), Calam Lynch (Bridgerton), and Oaklee Prendergast (Home). A younger Elsie will be played by Kara Tointon (Mr Selfridge).
Isaacs will also be joined by a host of other UK-based actors and actresses. Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Killing Eve), Ian Pulston-Davies (Coronation Street), Ian McNeice (Doc Martin), Jason Watkins (The Crown), Lisa Faulkner (EastEnders), and Niamh Cusah (Death in Paradise) have all joined the project as various people important to Grant’s life.
The Pope-directed biopic series is expected to be released later this year. Cannon will act as an executive producer on the project, giving her blessing to Pope for the series to go ahead. The series will also be produced by Grant’s daughter, Jennifer Grant, and Rebecca Hodgson. Like her father, Grant has a long history in the television and filming industry, with credits in roles such as Nicky Carter in the 1996 film Savage, Carol in the 2015 film Ghost Squad, Celeste Lundy in Beverly Hills, 90210, Nina Bookbinder in Friends, and Sedona Wylie in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Grant has also had experience in another documentary about her father, appearing as herself in the 2017 film Becoming Cary Grant. Archie will be launched on ITV’s new streaming service, ITVX (distributed by ITV Studios), later this year, with a linear premiere to come months later.
Archie will tell the story of actor Grant from his birth to the height of his career. The biopic series will begin with Grant’s birth in Bristol in 1904, focusing on his humble beginnings as Archibald Alec Leach. The series will detail his childhood spent in extreme poverty, as well as the way he dealt with his father’s adultery and death of his brother John. The series will continue into his new life in America, concentrating on his journey into one of Hollywood’s definitive leading men to his retirement from films. Part of this will include a look into his private life, including his two failed marriages.
Archie will be released on ITVX later this year.
