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Alias Grace

Cameras roll on CBC/Netflix miniseries Alias Grace

From a media release:

Halfire Entertainment, CBC, and Netflix announced that cameras are rolling on the screen adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace. Alias Grace stars award-winning actress Sarah Gadon (Indignation, 11.22.63, Enemy); Academy Award-winning® Canadian-born actress Anna Paquin (True Blood, Roots, Bellevue); Zachary Levi (Chuck, Tangled); Paul Gross (Hyena Road, Due South); Edward Holcroft (Kingsman: The Secret Service, London Spy, Wolf Hall); Kerr Logan (Game of Thrones, London Irish); Rebecca Liddiard (Houdini & Doyle); and acclaimed Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg.

The six-hour miniseries is inspired by the true story of Grace Marks who was convicted of murdering Nancy Montgomery and Thomas Kinnear. Alias Grace is written and produced by Sarah Polley (Take This Waltz, Away from Her) and directed by Mary Harron (American Psycho, I Shot Andy Warhol).

The miniseries continues production in Toronto and across Ontario until mid-November. Alias Grace will be broadcast in Canada on CBC and globally – everywhere outside of Canada – on Netflix.

Alias Grace follows Grace Marks (Sarah Gadon) a poor, young Irish immigrant and domestic servant in Upper Canada who, along with stable hand James McDermott, was convicted of the brutal murders of their employer, Thomas Kinnear (Paul Gross) and Nancy Montgomery (Anna Paquin) in 1843. Nancy is Kinnear’s housekeeper and lover, and while she initially befriends Grace, she begins to resent Grace and becomes increasingly jealous of Kinnear’s affection for her. Nancy eventually fires Grace in a fit of rage and is later found brutally murdered.

Alias Grace is co-commissioned by CBC and Netflix, produced by Halfire Entertainment and created by Sarah Polley. The executive producers are Sarah Polley, Mary Harron, and Noreen Halpern. Producing alongside Polley is D.J. Carson.

 

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Alias Grace

Oscar winner Anna Paquin stars in CBC’s Alias Grace

From a media release:

Halfire Entertainment, CBC and Netflix today announced that Academy Award-winning Canadian-born actress Anna Paquin (True Blood, Roots) has signed on to play Nancy Montgomery in the screen adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace. The six-hour miniseries is inspired by the true story of Grace Marks, who was convicted of murdering Nancy Montgomery and Thomas Kinnear. Alias Grace is written and produced by Sarah Polley (Take This Waltz, Away from Her) and directed by Mary Harron (American Psycho, I Shot Andy Warhol). The mini-series began shooting in Ontario on August 15, 2016. Alias Grace will be broadcast in Canada on CBC and globally – everywhere outside of Canada – on Netflix.

Alias Grace follows Grace Marks (Sarah Gadon) a poor, young Irish immigrant and domestic servant in Upper Canada who, along with stable hand James McDermott, was convicted of the brutal murders of their employer, Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery (Anna Paquin) in 1843. Nancy is Kinnear’s housekeeper and lover, and while she initially befriends Grace, she begins to resent Grace and becomes increasingly jealous of Kinnear’s affection for her.  Nancy eventually fires Grace in a fit of rage and is later found brutally murdered.

Alias Grace is co-commissioned by CBC and Netflix, produced by Halfire Entertainment and created by Sarah Polley. The executive producers are Sarah Polley, Mary Harron and Noreen Halpern. Producing alongside Polley is D.J. Carson.

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Alias Grace

Link: Sarah Gadon bones up on pioneer skills for Alias Grace

From Victoria Ahearn of The Canadian Press:

Link: Sarah Gadon bones up on pioneer skills for Alias Grace
Sarah Gadon is diving into what she calls “pioneer boot camp” as she prepares to play the lead in a much-anticipated adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace.

The Toronto actor is in pre-production for the six-hour miniseries, which is inspired by the true story of Grace Marks, an Irish immigrant and maid who was convicted of murder in Upper Canada in 1843 but exonerated decades later. Continue reading.

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Alias Grace

Link: Sarah Gadon to star in Netflix’s Margaret Atwood drama ‘Alias Grace’

From Lesley Goldberg of The Hollywood Reporter:

Link: Sarah Gadon to star in Netflix’s Margaret Atwood drama ‘Alias Grace’
Sarah Gadon is going from Hulu to Netflix.

The Canadian actress has been tapped to topline Netflix’s Margaret Atwood drama Alias Grace, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Gabon, who most recently co-starred opposite James Franco in Hulu’s Stephen King limited series 11.22.63, will play Grace Marks in the streaming giant’s adaptation of Atwood’s award-winning novel. Continue reading. 

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Alias Grace

CBC and Netflix join forces with Halfire Entertainment to adapt Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace

From a media release:

Halfire Entertainment, CBC and Netflix announced that production will begin on Alias Grace, a six-hour miniseries inspired by the historical true story of convicted murderer Grace Marks and based on the award-winning novel by Margaret Atwood. The miniseries is being written and produced by Sarah Polley (Looking for Alaska, Take this Waltz, Away from Her) and will be directed by Mary Harron (American Psycho, I Shot Andy Warhol), with production scheduled to begin in Ontario in August 2016. Alias Grace will be broadcast in Canada on CBC and will stream everywhere globally on Netflix.

The story of Alias Grace follows Grace Marks, a poor, young Irish immigrant and domestic servant in Upper Canada who, along with stable hand James McDermott, was convicted of the brutal murders of their employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery, in 1843. James was hanged while Grace was sentenced to life imprisonment. Grace became one of the most enigmatic and notorious women of 1840s Canada for her supposed role in the sensational double murder, and was eventually exonerated after 30 years in jail. Her conviction was controversial, and sparked much debate about whether Grace was actually involved in the murder, or merely an unwitting accessory.

Both the screen adaptation and the Margaret Atwood novel on which the miniseries is based, introduce a fictional young doctor named Simon Jordan who researches the case and begins to fall in love with Grace. He soon becomes obsessed with her as he seeks to reconcile his perception of the mild-mannered woman he sees with the savage murder of which she has been convicted.

Alias Grace will be broadcast in Canada on CBC and stream globally on Netflix. Executive producers will be Sarah Polley, Mary Harron and Noreen Halpern (Aftermath, Working the Engels, Rookie Blue). Co-producing alongside Polley will be D.J. Carson (Spotlight). Polley was nominated for an adapted screenplay Academy Award for the 2006 drama Away from Her, which was adapted from the Alice Munro short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain.

Published in 1996, Alias Grace was awarded the Giller Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Additional books by Atwood that have been adapted for film and television include The Handmaid’s Tale, Payback, The Robber Bride, The Sin Eater and Surfacing. Kids’ CBC recently greenlit an animated series based on Atwood’s children’s book The Wide World of Wandering Wenda.

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