The Hollywood Reporter reports that Arclight has found its cast for its upcoming World War I feature drama The Angel Makers. Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks is set to star, along with two-time Oscar nominee Emily Watson, Abbie Cornish, Sense8’s Max Riemelt, and David Kross (not to be confused with David Cross). The project will be directed by Jon Amiel, who recently directed episodes of Once Upon A Time, Halt And Catch Fire, and The Borgias.
The Angel Makers is based on true events and follows the women of England’s Yorkshire Moors, who had to take over the farms when their husbands left to fight the war in France in 1917. The women enlist German prisoners of war from a nearby internment camp to help maintain the farm and do hard labor, and things start to get steamy. (This movie is about affairs on farms during World War I.)
Hendricks, who has been nominated for six Emmys for her work on Mad Men but has never won because the world does not deserve her, will play the leader of the women, who also works as a midwife and witch doctor with a bit of a dangerous side. Yes, Hendricks will play a witch doctor, and suddenly, we’re very excited about this movie. She’ll join the ranks of fabulous red-haired witch doctors, an exclusive club led by Lotte Verbeek’s Geillis Duncan of Outlander.
“We are thrilled to be working with an extremely talented and dedicated team, from our amazing cast and crew to our international sales team at Arclight Films,” said Jeanna Polley, one of the film’s producers. “The Angel Makers is a dark, poignant romantic drama with just the right amount of comedic elements to give it that real-life quality. The film is something everyone can relate to as it brings the audience into the lives of some very courageous, strong and independent figures who demonstrate just how strong and resilient one can be in difficult times.”
Hendricks recently appeared in Ryan Gosling’s Lost River as well as Dark Places, the Lifetime movie adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel starring Charlize Theron. She also recently joined Nicolas Winding Refn’s upcoming horror film The Neon Demon. On the television side of things, Hendricks exited Cameron Crowe’s Roadies, but joined upcoming period drama Hap And Leonard, because it is an unwritten law that Hendricks can only play characters in stories set in the past. She currently plays a maid (re-)named Chair on Comedy Central’s Another Period, which is set at the turn of the 20th century and is therefore allowable under the law.
Hendricks’s The Angel Makers co-star Watson, Oscar-nominated for her roles in Breaking The Waves and Hilary And Jackie, will also star in the upcoming Universal adventure thriller Everest. The Angel Makers is slated to start production in January 2016.