Entertainment

Jesse Eisenberg to play French mime Marcel Marceau in new war film

The film will tell the tale of the artist’s involvement during the French resistance.
The film will tell the tale of the artist’s involvement during the French resistance. The film will tell the tale of the artist’s involvement during the French resistance.

The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg will play French mime Marcel Marceau in a new film about the Second World War.

Jonathan Jakubowicz’s Resistance will tell the tale of the legendary character’s involvement in the French resistance.

The Venezuelan filmmaker told the Associated Press: “The story of Marceau and the resistance is one of the most striking secrets of World War Two.

“From the biggest horror rises the most elevated art to save the lives of orphan children. I knew I had to do even the impossible to tell this the very moment I heard of it.”

Marcel Marceau, 1962.
Marcel Marceau, 1962.
Marcel Marceau, 1962 (PA)

Jonathan told how he started work on the script last year after meeting Marcel’s oldest son, Baptiste Marceau – who will stand in as executive producer.

He described Jesse – also known for his part as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – as an “acting genius” and said they would begin filming early next year.

Marcel learned to mime to survive and save the lives of Jewish orphans whose parents were killed by the Nazis. His own father died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The “artist of silence” performed professionally worldwide for more than six decades. He was made Grand Officier de la Legion d’Honneur and was awarded the National Order of Merit in France for his work in the French resistance.