Rachel Weisz to Play Deborah Lipstadt in Holocaust Movie ‘Denial’

Image by Getty Images

By Maia Efrem November 6, 2015

British actress Rachel Weisz has been tapped to play Deborah E. Lipstadt in “Denial,” a biopic based on Lipstadt’s courtroom drama with David Irving, who sued her for libel when she accused him of being a Holocaust denier.

Adapted for screen from Lipstadt’s book, the North American rights to the movie were bought by Bleecker Street distribution company. Replacing Hillary Swank as the lead, Weisz will star opposite Tom Wilkinson and Timothy Spall, with Mick Jackson taking the reins as director.

Deborah Lipstadt, Biden's antisemitism envoy

Deborah L. Lipstadt Image by Getty Images

“Mick Jackson’s film will recount this incredible, unbelievable story of two people pitted against each other in a battle over truth, history and integrity,” Bleeker Street CEO Andrew Karpen said in a statement. “With David Hare’s exhilarating script combined with Rachel Weisz and Tom Wilkinson leading the cast, I’m so proud to be bringing this film to audiences next year.”

Maia Efrem is the former research editor and assistant to the editor and was also responsible for the Forward’s annual Salary Survey. Previously she served as the editor of Blognik Beat, a blog written by students who emigrated from or have ties to the Former Soviet Union. Maia is a graduate of Hunter College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO