Jeff Goldblum has joined the cast of a film adaptation of Stephen Fry’s The Liar, Deadline reports.
Goldblum will star in the movie along with actors Asa Butterfield, Rupert Everett, and Charles Dance. The film is set to be directed by Tony Hagger and produced by Guy de Beaujeu.
Fry’s 1993 debut novel follows Adrian Healey, a Cambridge student with a checkered past, who’s recruited as a spy by Donald Trefusis, an instructor at the university. A critic for Kirkus called the book “too British in its calculated outrageousness to repeat its bestselling performance on this side of the Atlantic, but still dizzyingly, peerlessly sophomoric.”
Goldblum will play Trefusis in the film, with Butterfield cast as Healey.
Fry told Deadline that he “hiccuped with delight” when he learned of Goldblum’s casting.
“That uniquely perfect mixture of authority, eccentricity, intelligence, humor, and charm is just what the character calls for…hurrah,” Fry said.
Hagger struck a similar note, saying, “It’s such a thrill to work with a genuine Hollywood legend who will bring the perfect kooky mystery to the role of Trefusis. I can’t wait to see Asa and Jeff working together; it’ll be very special and very funny.”
The Liar begins shooting in September in the U.K.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
