Steven Spielberg has found the man he wants to play the BFG in his adaptation of the beloved Roald Dahl story, and he hasn’t had to look too far. He’s cast Mark Rylance, who is currently shooting his Cold War thriller St. James Place alongside Tom Hanks and Eve Hewson.
Rylance, who is still probably better known as a stage actor despite a burgeoning film career, will be the title character in the story, which has been scripted by E.T.’s Melissa Mathison. DreamWorks has had the rights to Dahl’s book since 2010, and it has been traversing development limbo ever since, attracting directors such as Chris Columbus and John Madden but never quite making it into reality.
Spielberg plans to work on the tale of tale of young Sophie, who meets the world’s only friendly giant. He makes it his mission to collect good dreams and gift them to children while destroying nightmares and keeping his nasty fellow gigantic brethren from eating “human beans”.
“As I witnessed on stage, Mark Rylance is a transformational actor,” Spielberg says in a statement. “I am excited and thrilled that Mark will be making this journey with us to Giant Country. Everything about his career so far is about making the courageous choice and I’m honoured he has chosen The BFG as his next big screen performance.” The film will arrive in UK cinemas on July 22, 2016.
Rylance will next be seen in action thriller** The Gunman **and is part of the cast for the BBC’s Wolf Hall.