Sarah Silverman has been cast as World Tennis magazine founder Gladys Heldman in Fox Searchlight’s “Battle of the Sexes,” which chronicles the epic tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap.
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are directing the film, which stars Emma Stone as King and Steve Carell as Riggs. The duo previously starred together in “Crazy, Stupid, Love.”
Andrea Riseborough, Elizabeth Shue and Austin Stowell co-star in the film, which was written by Simon Beaufoy (“Slumdog Millionaire”). Production is slated to start next month.
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.
King had previously played on a women-only circuit that Heldman helped organize when female players felt they were not being paid as much as their male counterparts.
Silverman recently earned a SAG nomination and some of the best reviews of her career as a dramatic actress with “I Smile Back.” She’ll soon be seen playing the publicist of Andy Samberg‘s character in the comedy “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.” Her casting was first reported by THR.