For the last year or so, competing biopics about 70s porn chic star Linda Lovelace have been in the works, but both have been beset by problems, meaning while the race has been on to get into production first, neither has pulled ahead. Now E! reports that Cowboys & Aliens star Olivia Wilde is considering the lead role in the Lovelace movie that Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (Howl) are putting together.
The actress has not officially signed on yet, but she definitely seems interested saying “It would be a tremendous honour. It’s such a cool role. She was a fascinating woman – with where she came from to Deep Throat to then working with Gloria Steinem and Nora Ephron. It’s really fascinating. I’m being very careful about my next project since I’m now in a position where I can be really picky -thank God, finally.”
The film will be based on Eric Danville’s book, The Complete Linda Lovelace. We reported back in January that James Franco is circling the role of Chuck Traynor, Linda Lovelace’s husband, with Kate Hudson eyeing the title role. It isn’t known if Franco is still involved, but if Wilde is interested it appears Hudson may be out.
Linda Lovelace is a fascinating figure far beyond the titilation of being the star of one of the best known porn films in history – Deep Throat. Initially appearing in hardcore (and even bestiality) movies, at first Lovelace seemed to revel in her status. However during her divorce from Chuck Traynor in the late 70s, she claimed that he was violent and had forced her into pornography at gunpoint (with some evidence to back her up).
She said that her marriage was plagued with beatings and rape, and that when she appeared in porn, it was basically enforced prostitution. While there have been some disagreements as to the extent Lovelace was a willing participant in her porn career (her assertions that everything was coerced have been questioned by many who were there at the time), there seems little doubt that her marriage to Traynor was viscious and cruel.
She then became an anti-pornography champion, speaking at public events and testifying at government hearings on pornography. However she later said she felt used by the anti-pornography movement, which got a lot mileage out of having Lovelace as a convert, but which never helped her out. She died in a car accident in 2002.
Lovelace, which Wilde is interested in starring in, is not to be confused with Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story, another biopic which Malin Akerman is attached to star in (and which originally was going to star Lindsay Lohan, but her legal issues forced her out). It isn’t clear when production will start on either project quite yet.