Joan Collins says she is “happy” to play Wallis Simpson in Biopic

Joan CollinsA prolonged supporter of the British monarchy, will play Wallis Simpson in an upcoming biopic.

Collins, 91, will take the role of Simpson, an American divorce that King Edward VIII Chose over the monarchy, abdicated the throne in 1936 and finally married her next year. The two married from 1937 to the end of Edward’s life in 1972; Simpson died in 1986 at the age of 89.

According to The custodianCollins will play Simpson during his last days in a movie that is currently the title The bitter end (and formerly known as In bed with the DuchessMaybe a nod to Simpson’s Duchess by Windsor title after her marriage to Edward, who became Duke of Windsor after his abdication).

“I’m proud of the challenge of playing this iconic woman in a previous unclear story,” Collins said.

The film will be directed by Mike Newell (who previously directed Four weddings and a funeral) with a script written by Louise Fennell, mother of Oscar-winning writer and director Emerald Fennell.

1936 decision for King Edward VIII to marry the twice divorced Simpson triggered a constitutional crisis; After less than a year that King Abdicated Edward on December 10, 1936 and left the throne to his younger brother, who became King George Vi (and who was the future Queen Elizabeths father and King Charles“grandfather).

Collins said in an interview in 2023 that the script for The bitter end had been written for her specifically, narrative The custodian“It’s the true story of the last years of the Duchess of Windsor after the Duke dies.”

“You see her first and foremost when she is full of Pep and she has got her young acolys around her, then bit by bit, she is destroyed by circumstances,” Collins added. “It’s a very good script, and it’s a big part for me. I have always been fascinated by Wallis, because I think she was treated unfairly. ”

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Simpson – who previously said about his third marriage that “You have no idea how difficult it is to live out a great romance” – has previously been played by Lia Williams in Netflix’s The crownThe Joely Richardson in Wallis & EdwardThe Faye Dunaway in The woman I love and Eva the best in The King’s speech.

Collins, who The custodian Called “a vocal suspender of the British monarchy” was made into a Dame 2015.