Austin Butler to play Lance Armstrong in new movie
Austin Butler will play Lance Armstrong in a new biopic from All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave filmmaker Edward Berger.
Austin Butler will play Lance Armstrong in a new biopic.
The 34-year-old actor – who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 movie Elvis – is set to take on the role of cyclist Lance, whose career was rocked by a doping scandal.
All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave filmmaker Edward Berger will direct the new movie, which is being produced by former Netflix executive Scott Stuber.
Stuber - who recently worked on Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere – has secured Armstrong’s life rights for the movie, which has set off a bidding war among major studios and streamers.
Armstrong will be involved in the film but will not have a producing credit.
King Richard writer Zach Baylin is writing the spec, with Stuber and Nick Nesbit producing along with Berger.
Josh Glick and Zac Frognowski will serve as Executive Producers alongside Baylin.
Deadline reports: “Stuber and Armstrong have a had relationship for some time, and the producer made it clear to Armstrong they needed to tell everything or he didn’t want to do the film. After many discussions over a long period, Armstrong signed off on it.”
This is not the first time that Armstrong’s story has been told on screen.
Ben Foster previously played the cyclist in 2015’s The Program, but the film did not have any association with Armstrong.
He revealed he took performance-enhancing drugs in preparation for the role.
He told The Guardian: “I don’t want to talk about the names of the drugs I took. Even discussing it feels tricky because it isn’t something I’d recommend to fellow actors. These are very serious chemicals and they affect your body in real ways. For my own investigation it was important for me privately to understand it. And they work.”
However, he admitted that he struggled with the “fallout”.
He said: “There’s a fallout. Doping affects your mind. It doesn’t make you feel high… [There are things] when you’ve got those chemicals running through your body that serve you on the bike but which, when you’re not …
“I’ve only just recovered physically. I’m only now getting my levels back. I don’t know how to separate the chemical influence from the psychological attachment I had to the character. If it’s working, it keeps you up at night. This is losing your marbles, right? They’re definitely rolling around. They’re under the couch but they’re retrievable.”
