Cynthia Nixon will delve into the poetry business as Emily Dickinson.
Good news, fans of 19th century poets! One of yours is getting her big screen due. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cynthia Nixon has signed on to star as one of America’s first great poets, Emily Dickinson, in a film to be directed by Terence Davies. He also wrote the script, which is titled “A Quiet Passion.”
Dickinson (1830-1886) was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, and other than a few years at school, spent all of her life there. She rarely left the family house, and often didn’t even leave her room. Only a few of her poems were published in her lifetime; most were published after her death. She was a recluse, but she wasn’t solitary; she carried on lively correspondences with a number of people. Think of someone who’s best friends are the ones they know online and who they email all the time and you get the picture.
Davies said:
“I wrote the screenplay with Cynthia in mind. It was the kind of dream casting you hope for. I never, for a moment, imagined my wishes would materialize. Cynthia has such a strong feeling for the work — and now she is our Emily Dickinson. I’m over the moon.”
And Nixon said:
“When I read what Terence had written, I was consumed by the character he had so beautifully put on the page. Emily Dickinson’s words and Terence’s somehow dovetail to create a heady elixir. When I put the script down, I knew it was a story that I simply have to be part of.”
Nixon has been doing a lot of theater and TV lately; actually, she hasn’t done a big screen movie since “Sex and the City 2.” I guess that would put anyone off the medium.
No word on when this project will get going.
