Actress Nicole Kidman is reportedly in talks to play former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson in the upcoming biopic about the life of Roger Ailes, the former head of the network forced out in 2016 over sexual harassment allegations.
Variety reports that Kidman is likely to join the cast that already includes Charlize Theron playing former anchor Megyn Kelly. Theron, also producing the movie, is joined on the production team by “The Big Short” writer Charles Randolph.
{mosads}Carlson and Kelly, who have both left Fox News, are among the current and former Fox employees who have made sexual harassment allegations against Ailes.
Kelly now works for NBC News and hosts a portion of the “Today” show.
Carlson settled with the network for $20 million in 2016 and is credited with encouraging dozens of other women to step forward to tell their own experiences after filing her initial lawsuit.
“We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of our colleagues deserve,” 21st Century Fox said in a statement upon the lawsuit’s settlement.
Other characters yet to be cast in the upcoming film, which does not yet have a publicly released title, include former host Bill O’Reilly, who left the network after facing his own sexual harassment allegations, as well as former anchor Greta Van Susteren. O’Reilly denies the allegations against him and has never been charged with a crime.
The movie’s director, Jay Roach, is also set to direct the movie adaptation of Michael Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” which quickly became a bestseller after making damaging claims about the Trump White House.