Sabrina Carpenter cast opposite Tom Holland in Fred Astaire biopic
The pop star and actor will play Ginger Rogers to Holland's Fred Astaire in director Paul King's adaptation of a 2012 biography.
Sabrina Carpenter has been cast as Ginger Rogers in the Fred Astaire biopic starring Tom Holland, with Margaret Qualley set to play Astaire’s sister and first dance partner, Adele Astaire. The casting was announced Friday, September 25, according to multiple entertainment outlets.
Director Paul King, known for the Paddington and Wonka films, will helm the yet-to-be-titled project, which adapts Kathleen Riley’s 2012 book The Astaires: Fred & Adele. Holland, 30, was attached to the role from the project’s inception in 2021. Carpenter, who is 27, and Qualley, 31, round out the main cast.
On the film’s scope
The biopic centers on the Astaire siblings’ partnership and careers rather than focusing solely on Fred’s later work in Hollywood. “Fred left a timeless legacy of dance on film — most famously in his collaborations with Ginger Rogers — while Adele’s work has been lost to history; indeed, no footage of her dancing survives,” King said in a statement. He described the project as a cinematic challenge to bring these twentieth-century icons to life.
Adele, born in 1896, was three years older than Fred, who was born in 1899. She died in 1981; Fred Astaire died in 1987.
Holland’s return to dance
Holland previously performed in Billy Elliot the Musical on London’s West End early in his career. He told interviewers in July that he has already begun dance rehearsals for the role. “I did my first dance rehearsal the other day for Fred, and I was really excited afterwards,” he said on Live With Kelly and Mark. “I was equally terrified because I have so much work to do.”
He expressed an ambition to perform the dances himself without stand-ins. “I have a desire to use no doubles,” Holland said. “To do all of the dancing, to shoot those dances in one shot, how he would have done it.” He also noted that stepping away from dance after Billy Elliot was one of his biggest career regrets.
The cast and crew
Carpenter is known for her Grammy-winning music career and has appeared in films including The Hate U Give (2018) and Tall Girl 2 (2022). Qualley, the daughter of actor Andie MacDowell, starred in The Substance. The screenplay is by Steven Levenson, with Amy Pascal producing.
The project has won approval from Ava Astaire McKenzie, Fred Astaire’s daughter, born in 1942. “I’m delighted to support this endeavor to celebrate the extraordinary careers and enduring legacy of my father and aunt, who were among the biggest musical stars of their era,” McKenzie said in a statement. She praised the creative team and Riley’s biography as the foundation for the adaptation.
This article was compiled by the Glamorade editorial desk from the official announcements and reporting listed under Sources.
