Four-time Emmy winner Edie Falco has been cast in Megan Leavey, a biopic starring Kate Mara (Fantastic Four, Captive). Falco will be playing Megan’s mother, Jackie Leavey. This casting tip comes courtesy of an exclusive from Deadline.
Penned by Pamela Gray (Conviction), Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s (director the acclaimed anti- Sea World documentary Blackfish) indie film revolves around the true story of United States Marine Corporal Megan Leavey (Mara) and her bomb-sniffing dog Sgt. Rex, who together served over 100 military combat missions. They were wounded together in an explosion in 2006 during their second tour in Iraq, with the K-9 handler sustaining a traumatic brain injury and Rex a shoulder injury. Leavey was awarded the Purple Heart and Combat Valor Medal.
While Leavey was honorably discharged, Rex continued in active service until he was too old to be of service. The ex-Marine’s petition to adopt Rex was initially blocked by the United States Air Force and she fought to win custody of her heroic partner and save him from being euthanized at the end of his tour of duty. Megan Leavey will marks Cowperthwaite’s feature directorial debut.
Falco is known for her award-winning roles as Jackie Peyton in Showtime’s Nurse Jackie and mob wife Carmela Soprano in HBO’s The Sopranos. Nurse Jackie has had a successful seven-season run and completed its final season this year. On the big screen, Falco has appeared in such films as John Sayles’ ensemble drama Sunshine State and Joe Roth’s mystery Freedomland.
The biopic will bow sometime in 2016.
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