It's couture-bin' time: Jared Leto will play Karl Lagerfeld in a new biopic
Jared Leto reportedly worked closely with Lagerfeld's estate to create a "respectful ode" to the designer and longtime Chanel creative director
A Lady Gaga-infused taste of high-fashion method acting in House Of Gucci appears to have left Jared Leto wanting to reach for even more iconic heights. The Morbius star has signed on to star as late couturier and longtime Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld, who died in February 2019, in a new biopic, per Deadline. Leto will co-produce the project with Lagerfeld’s House of Karl Lagerfeld, as well as his partner Emma Ludbrook through their production banner Paradox.
“Karl has always been an inspiration to me,” says Leto in a statement. “He was a true polymath, an artist, an innovator, a leader, and, most importantly, a kind man.”
Some of Lagerfeld’s closest confidants in life, Pier Paolo Righi, Caroline Lebar, and Sébastien Jondeau, will serve as executive producers on the film. All three worked for Lagerfeld for over a decade, with Lebar serving as both a brand and personal adviser for 35 years.
“When we came together with the Karl Lagerfeld team, we immediately shared a creative vision of doing a respectful ode to Karl while pushing the artistic boundaries of what a biopic can be,” Leto says. “I’m so grateful to Karo, Pier and Seb for allowing us to go on this journey together.”
The feelings between Leto and Righi specifically are mutual, and the KARL LAGERFELD CEO shares that although “several Hollywood producers” have approached the company with ideas for a Lagerfeld biopic, Leto and Ludbrook were the first to really inspire trust.
“It has been only since we met Jared and Emma that we felt truly confident about the story being told in the artistic way Karl would have loved to see,” Righi shared. “Throughout our conversations, we have created an equally trustful and inspiring creative relationship that will allow us to work together very fluidly on this beautiful project.”