Jack O’Connell will play fashion legend Alexander McQueen in new movie

Jack O’Connell has been cast as the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen in an upcoming film about his life.

The film, first announced earlier this year, will be directed by Andrew Haigh, best known for Looking, Weekend and 45 Years.

O’Connell appeared alongside George Clooney and Julia Roberts in Money Monster this year, and previously starred in Unbroken, ’71 and Starred Up.

There’s no title for the movie yet, but it’s expected to release late next year, putting it just in time for the 2018 awards season.

McQueen, who was openly gay, rose to fame in the ’90s, and designed outfits for the like of David Bowie and Björk alongside his catwalk shows.

He died by suicide in 2010, at the age of forty, and it looks like Haigh’s film will chronicle a period not long before that.

“In 2009, Alexander McQueen put on one of his greatest shows — a stunningly beautiful re-working of his greatest designs from the past 15 years,” says a press release about the new film.

“It was a show that he dedicated to his mother and one in which he tried to make sense of his life and art.

“The film explores McQueen’s creative process in the months leading up to the show, providing an intimate portrait of the man behind the global brand — a moving celebration of a visionary genius whose designs transcended fashion to become art.”

After his death, stars like Lady Gaga paid tribute to his life and work, and he was even in the running to appear on the new £20 bill.

• Nov 29 2023

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