“The Good Wife” star Alan Cumming has signed on to join Steve Carell and Emma Stone in Fox Searchlight’s “Battle of the Sexes,” an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap.
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are directing the film, which chronicles the Battle of the Sexes — the epic tennis match between Billie Jean King (Stone) and Bobby Riggs (Carell).
King was the second-best female tennis player in the world when she defeated former Wimbledon champion Riggs in an infamous 1973 match that brought Riggs out of retirement.
Cumming will play Ted Tinling, the openly gay tennis player who designed King’s dress for the Battle of the Sexes and helped support her in coming out about her own sexuality.
Andrea Riseborough, Elizabeth Shue, Austin Stowell and Sarah Silverman co-star in the film, which was written by Simon Beaufoy (“Slumdog Millionaire”). Production is currently under way.
Cumming is a two-time Golden Globe nominee and three-time Emmy nominee who currently stars on “The Good Wife.” He voices Gutsy Smurf in Sony’s “Smurfs” franchise and next stars in the indie comedy “Hurricane Bianca.” He’s represented by CAA, Untitled Entertainment and Troika.
