While doing the press rounds for “Nanny McPhee Returns” Maggie Gyllenhaal — who we had no idea was even in that film — has revealed that she is set to join her husband Peter Sarsgaard in the gestating biopic of bluegrass legend Bill Monroe.
“Bill Monroe, who invented bluegrass music had a kind of Sid and Nancy style affair with this woman Bessie Lee Mauldin throughout his life and T-Bone Burnett’s going to do the music and Callie Khouri who wrote ‘Thelma & Louise’ wrote the script so we’re going to do that together,” she said.
Those details match what was first reported when it was revealed Peter Sarsgaard was joining the project back at the beginning of July. As you might recall, Burnett took home an Oscar last year thanks to his work on “Crazy Heart” which co-starred Gyllenhaal. One name that is curiously absent is that of director Finn Taylor (“The Darwin Awards,” “Cherish”) who has linked to the project. That name always seemed like the weakest link given the other talent involved and we wouldn’t be surprised if he’s been quietly bounced from the film.
Still sounds like in its early stages, but so far its shaping up into very promising project. [ScreenCrave]
