The late Karl Lagerfeld, the famed glove-wearing fashion designer and former artistic director of Chanel, passed away in February 2019. Now, Jared Leto is slated to play the titular role in a biopic about his life, which will be his own production.
The Oscar-winner will star as Lagerfeld and produce the film with Emma Ludbrook under their Paradox banner.
“I feel like this is a full-circle moment, and Karl would be proud of what we are doing,” Leto told Women’s Wear Daily, The Hollywood Reporter‘s sister publication that first broke the news. “Karl was an artist. Period. He was a fashion designer; he was a photographer, he was an artist. There was no defining him. He was a creative powerhouse.”
Little is known about the film at this time, as it is still in the early phases of production. Even the director has not yet been assigned. However, it has the support of the Karl Lagerfeld fashion house, which was confirmed to WWD that it will chronicle the designer’s life and career. “key relationships in Karl Lagerfeld’s life, told through an unpredictable lens, much like the man himself.”
Leto further added:
“There are a multitude of relationships to explore. Karl had a career that spanned 50-plus years so both personally and professionally, he was close to a number of people. I can say we are going to home in on key relationships that convey different parts of his life.”
Reportedly, the actor has recruited three of Lagerfeld’s closest confidants: Senior vice president of image and communications Caroline Lebar, Chief executive Pier Paolo Righi, and Personal assistant and bodyguard Sébastien Jondeau. The trio will work together as executive producers.
“My role is to portray him on screen as honestly as possible,” Leto continued of Lagerfeld. “With celebrity, most people don’t get to see under the surface. They see one or two facets of a person as presented through a public lens. Karl was a human being. We all have beauty within us, and we all have faults. We have masks, and then we have moments when we reveal the mask. I’m always interested in seeing what’s behind the mask.”
We are keen to see what comes out of the biopic. We also wish Jared Leto the best of luck for his admirable decision to bring the Late fashion designer’s life into the limelight.
