Eva Green & Gemma Arterton Up For Lesbian-Themed Virginia Woolf Movie

It’s been revealed that Eva Green and Gemma Arterton have signed up to star Vita & Virginia, based on the true story of the love affair between Bloomsbury Group luminaries Virginia Woolf and VIta Sackville-West. Chanya Button (Burn, Burn, Burn) is set to direct the movie, working from a script by Dame Eileen Atkins (adapted from her 1992 play).

As reported by THR, the movie will follow the story of how, ‘Virginia Stephen married Leonard Woolf in 1912, and then met socialite and author Vita Sackville-West, wife of Harold Nicolson, in 1922. They began a sexual relationship that lasted nearly a decade, as shown in their various letters and diary entries. After their affair ended, they remained friends until Woolf’s death in 1941. Green will play Woolf while Arterton will play Sackville-West.’

While Woolf is now the more famous of the two, in their heyday Vita was just a well known, refusing to accept ‘a women’s role’ and becoming a prolific poet, novelist, journalist and even garden designer. She was also bisexual and Woolf was just one of her lovers, both male and female. Sackville-West is also renowned as the inspiration for Woolf’s eponymous protagonist in Orlando: A Biopgraphy.

It’s not clear when the film will shoot, but the movie is currently looking for buyers at the Berlin Film Festival.