Tennis Flick Battle Of The Sexes Recruits Alan Cumming

An early casting setback may have threatened to postpone Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ (Little Miss Sunshine) epic tennis match, but ever since securing Emma Stone and Steve Carell in the lead roles, Battle of the Sexes has made up for lost time by beefing up its supporting cast with the likes of Andrea Riseborough, Elisabeth Shue, Sarah Silverman and now, Alan Cumming. 

That’s according to The Wrap, noting that Cumming (The Good Wife) has boarded the long-in-development drama as Ted Tinling, an openly gay tennis player who helped coach Billie Jean King (Stone) both on and off the court during the early 70s. Indeed, Tinling helped King come out about her own sexuality, and was a close friend to the former sportswoman throughout her glittering career.

Featuring a script by Simon Beaufoy, Battle of the Sexes chronicles the real-life tennis match between Stone’s Billie Jean King and decorated tennis pro, Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell). Considering that Riggs was 55 years young at the time, the pair proved to be unlikely opponents, though King called the Wimbledon champ out of retirement for a tussle that would attract close to 50 million American viewers.

Lending support to the sporting drama is Danny Boyle, who remains attached to Battle of the Sexes as a producer. The film also marks a reunion between Stone and Carell after appearing alongside one another in Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Fox Searchlight is aligning Battle of the Sexes for a release in early 2017. It’s understood that filming is already underway, with Cumming being one of, if not the final additions to the cast.