This story was published on May 19, 2022 and updated on February 2, 2023
Moss & Freud, James Lucas' upcoming film on the special relationship shared by supermodel Kate Moss and painter Lucian Freud, has found its titular star. Actor Ellie Bamber will play the British fashion icon, casting choice that Moss herself approves of.
"As this is such a personal story of mine it has been essential that I be involved with James in all aspects as the project has developed," Moss said in a statement. "I am thrilled by the recent casting and excited that the film will begin shooting soon, I cannot wait to see it.”
Moss & Freud will immortalize the unlikely bond between the '90s tastemaker and the late painter, grandson of Sigmund Freud himself. The two forged a friendship after Moss proclaimed that one of her remaining unfulfilled ambitions was to pose for the figurative artist.
Despite Freud's aversion to painting celebrities ("they've grown another skin because they've been looked at so much," he famously said), he indulged Moss' wish — over a period of nine months, a then-pregnant Moss sat for the painter seven days a week, from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.
In 2005, the portrait — titled "Naked Portrait 2002" — sold at auction for £3,928,000 (approximately $5 million). Currently, the work is owned by a private American collector.
With the help of the Lucian Freud Archive, Moss herself will executive produce the film. "After watching ‘The Phone Call’ I knew that James would convey the emotion in the storytelling in a fitting way, one this memoir deserves," the model said of Lucas' Oscar-winning short film.
Set to play opposite Bamber's Moss? Derek Jacobi, who bears a convincing resemblance to Freud.
