The Idiots, an upcoming biopic about the writing of The Idiot by Fyodor and Anna Dostoevsky, from filmmakers Malgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert, has found its cast bolstered by the additions of Vicky Krieps and Christian Friedel. Both actors are multilingual and have been presences in international film for more than a decade. Friedel, having broke out in his debut film in the Palme d’Or winning The White Ribbon, has recently been a co-star of The Idiots‘s headlining star Aimee Lou Wood on Season 3 of The White Lotus, along with his notable performance in the The Zone Of Interest, the 2023 winner for the Oscar for Best International Film.

Krieps had been a character actress in an number of English, French, and German language productions throughout the 2010s including Hanna and A Most Wanted Man until her lead role opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread propelled her to a larger status that she continues to possess. Working with Szumowska here furthers the trend of Krieps participating in films directed by women directors, with her having freshly worked on projects by Mia Hansen-Løve (Bergman Island), Marie Kreutzer (Corsage), Emily Atef (More Than Ever), and Margarethe von Trotta (Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert).

The Idiots is co-produced by Gold Rush Pictures and Hype Studios, international production companies with the former based in the United Kingdom and the latter possessing footing in Los Angeles and Paris. The multinational background of the film’s production and financing can be seen reflected in its cast, through its mix of major European actors fluent in English in the form of Krieps and Friedel and its prime stars in the American Wood and British Johnny Simm.