Is Natalie Dormer, one of television’s most indispensable supporting players, on the cusp of a Hollywood breakthrough? That appears to be the case today, with news that the Game of Thrones beauty has been selected by Screen Gems to lead its upcoming apocalyptic action-thriller Patient Zero.
The film focuses on the aftermath of an unprecedented global pandemic, a particularly aggressive form of rabies that turns those infected into extremely violent predators. One human (Dormer) inexplicably gifted with the ability to speak the language of the infected is tasked with finding a cure for the pandemic by tracking down the mysterious Patient Zero.
It’s the most sizable big-screen role for the talented actress to date. On the TV side of things, Dormer has amassed a huge fan base over the years by playing complex characters like Anne Boleyn on Showtime’s The Tudors, Sarah Etches on BBC series The Fades and Margaery Tyrell on HBO’s Game of Thrones. However, her movie roles have largely been limited to minor supporting roles in films like Captain America: The First Avenger, Rush and The Counselor.
This fall, that’s set to change – she’ll play Cressida in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 & 2 – but even in that buzzy two-parter, Dormer isn’t toplining. Patient Zero should (finally!) give the actress the solo vehicle she needs to hit the big time.
Stefan Ruzowitsky, who won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2007 for his World War II drama The Counterfeiters, is set to direct from a red-hot script by Mike Le, the screenwriter behind Dark Summer. We’ll keep you posted as more on Patient Zero develops.
