Amanda Seyfried And Peter Sarsgaard In Talks For Linda Lovelace Biopic

Amanda Seyfried in Les Miserables.
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Over the years there have been many projects about Linda Lovelace in development, but in the last year it has gotten fairly crazy, largely because just about every actress in Hollywood has been rumored to play the former porn star turned anti-porn activist. It began with Lindsay Lohan being attached to the movie titled Inferno, and got a bit nuttier when Lohan was replaced by Malin Akerman. Then another project, titled simply Lovelace appeared on the scene and both Kate Hudson and Olivia Wilde were rumored for the lead role. Now, however, it seems that both projects are close to having their leading ladies in place.

According to Variety, Amanda Seyfried, who toplined last weekend's sci-fi flick In Time with Justin Timberlake, is now negotiations to play the lead in Lovelace. What's more, Peter Sarsgaard, who was last seen this past summer as the bulbous-headed Hector Hammond in Green Lantern, is in talks to play Chuck Traynor, Lovelace's former husband and pornographer who also served as her pimp. The part of Traynor previously belonged to James Franco when Kate Hudson was attached, but Hudson became pregnant and apparently the deal was off. The script for the film is based on Eric Danville's book The Complete Linda Lovelace, which was adapted by W. Merritt Johnson and Andy Bellin. The project is being directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, who directed last year's Howl.

It's actually understandable why so many actresses would be interested in playing Lovelace. Her life was filled with tragedy and there is a great deal of dramatic potential for a biopic. We'll just have to wait and see if Amanda Seyfried is up for the task.

Eric Eisenberg
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Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.