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The Role Of J.D. Salinger Has Been Cast For An Upcoming Biopic
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 31, 2015
Modified Aug 31, 2015
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 31, 2015
Modified Aug 31, 2015
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The part of J.D. Salinger has been cast for an upcoming film about the author, titled Rebel in the Rye. Nicholas Hoult will star in the biopic, which was written by its director Danny Strong, and will focus on Salinger's younger years, leading up to his breakthrough novel Catcher in the Rye. You know, when Salinger was less of a recluse and more of a ladies' man.
Variety reports that the script was adapted from the Kenneth Slawenski biography JD Salinger: A Life.
The story will explore his rebellious youth, the bloody front lines of World War 2, enduring great love and terrible loss, a life of rejection to the pages of The New Yorker and his writer’s block—which led to a spiritual awakening.
Upon the biography's release, the NY Times called it "evocative," but added that it's "flawed"—"It draws liberally from Salinger’s letters and a memoir by his daughter, Margaret, is flawed by a tendency to assume direct correspondences between the author’s life and work."
The 25-year-old Hoult was in Mad Max: Fury Road and has appeared in a number of X-Men movies. Strong is possibly best known as being the creator of the TV series Empire, though has also worked on The Hunger Games and The Butler.
Tagged
biopic
casting
danny strong
jd salinger
Nicholas Hoult
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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