What could make a film about women’s roller derby that stars Ellen Page and is directed by Drew Barrymore even cooler? Think hard. I’ll give you a second. OK, time’s up. Have you guessed? The answer is, of course, a really cool supporting cast of actresses. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ellen and Drew will be joined in their upcoming film Whip It! by Juliette Lewis, Kristen Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden and Zoe Bell. The film follows Ellen’s character, Bliss Cavendar, a small-town Texas girl who runs away from her ex-pageant queen mom played by Marcia. While her mother wants her to follow in her tiara-wearing ways, Bliss would rather strap on some skates. So instead she joins a roller derby league in Austin.
Mentoring her is Saturday Night Live‘s Kristen as Malice in Wonderland. Juliette plays one of the league’s stars, Dinah Might, and stuntwoman-turned-actress Zoe is a medical technician who moonlights as Bloody Holly. (God, you have got to love roller derby names.) Drew will also star in her directorial debut.
I also love the dynamics in the cast. Kristen will surely bring the funny. Juliette has a raw energy. Marcia has an Oscar, so insane pageant mom should be no problem. And with Zoe, well, hello awesome roller stunts. Also of the newly announced cast Juliette already has the rocker girl attitude down pat thanks to her band Juliette and the Licks and Kristen clearly already has the skates. I unexpectedly became a fan of roller derby thanks to the now defunct A&E series Rollergirls. While I’d never want to try it myself (I prefer my bones unbroken, thank you very much), it’s fascinating to watch. So the thought of seeing such a talented group of women become hell on wheels is just awesome.
