Jesse Eisenberg to star in new Marcel Marceau movie
Best known for his role as Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network," Eisenberg is set to play the famous French mime artist in a movie titled "Resistance," according to a Variety report.
It's reported that this biopic of the world-famous mime artist will focus more on the French resistance than Marceau himself. During the Nazi occupation of France in the Second World War, Marcel Mangel changed his name to Marceau and joined the French resistance, helping to save the lives of Jewish orphans whose parents had been killed by the Nazis.
Born into a Polish Jewish family, Marceau was directly impacted by the Second World War through the death of his father who was deported to Auschwitz in 1944. Out of this terrible tragedy came his ambition to become a mime artist. He first performed on stage in August 1944 after the liberation of Paris, putting on a show for the US Army troops led by General Patton.
For over 60 years, Marcel Marceau travelled the world wowing audiences with his silent portrayal of human emotions, notably through his famous character Bip the Clown. The artist, who was particularly well-known in the US, received many awards, including France's Legion of Honour. He died in 2007 at the age of 84.
"Resistance", which is described as in the vein of Roberto Benigni's Oscar-winning film "Life is Beautiful," will be shot in 2018. It will be directed by the Venezuelan Jonathan Jakubowicz, who also worked on "Hands of Stone," the Roberto Duran biopic starring Robert de Niro and Edgar Ramirez which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
