Meryl Streep to play Emmeline Pankhurst in Suffragette

Actor to play women's lib icon in Abi Morgan's new film about the early days of the movement Last month Meryl Steep won applause for decrying Walt Disney a "gender bigot". Her crusading continues with the news that she's set to play Emmeline Pankhurst in a new film, reports Screen. Suffragette, which stars Carey Mulligan as Maude, a "foot soldier of the early feminist movement", is to be directed by Brick Lane's Sarah Gavron from a script by Abi Morgan. Morgan wrote The Iron Lady, the Margaret Thatcher biopic for which Steep won an Oscar two years ago. Streep will apparently feature in a keynote rally scene in which Pankhurst makes a speech. Starring alongside Mulligan and Streep, are Helena Bonham Carter, Romola Garai , Anne-Marie Duff and Samuel West. The film apparently charts the early activists for womens' lib and their run-ins with the government. Streep received her 18th Academy Award nomination in January for her performance as a boozy matriarch in August: Osage County. Meryl Streep Emmeline Pankhurst Catherine Shoard theguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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