Ellie Bamber, the rising British star recently seen in willow and The snakeis ready to play the model Kate Moss in the next biopic Moss and Freud.

The film hails from writer/director James Lucas – who won the Oscar for Live-Action Short Film for The phone call (with Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent) – and is set to dramatize the period in 2002 when Moss, at the height of her fame (and then heavily pregnant), chose to sit nude for famed British artist Lucian Freud. It was a decision that deeply marked and transformed both of their lives (and the painting was subsequently sold in 2005 for nearly $5 million).

Oscar nominee Derek Jacobi (Murder on the Orient Express, The Kings Speech) will play Freud. Moss will serve as executive producer with support from the Lucian Freud Archive.

Moss and Freud is a GFC Films production, produced by Matthew Metcalfe (McLaren, Dean Spanley, 6 days). Set around Freud’s Holland Park studio and London in early 2000s Britain, the story opens up to explore Freud’s mysterious past and Moss’ life as a globally recognized model. Cornerstone is handling global sales at the next European film market. The Reset Collective will handle the release in Australia and New Zealand.

“As this is such a personal story, it was essential that I was involved with James in all aspects of the development of the project,” Moss said. “I am thrilled with the recent casting and thrilled that filming on the film will begin soon, I can’t wait to see it.”

Bamber – who recently wrapped filming Amazon’s LGBTQ+ romance Red, white and royal blue and Warner Bros. eagerly awaited Barbie — is represented by Curtis Brown and UTA. Derek Jacobi is represented by Independent Talent Group.