An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel American Pastoral has been in the works forever, but it seemed to be building up steam with Philip Noyce at the helm and a cast led by Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, and Dakota Fanning. But now Noyce is out and the project is getting a new director in McGregor, who will be making his directorial debut.
Roth's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1997 novel follows Seymour “Swede” Levov, a legendary high school athlete, who grows up to marry a former beauty queen and inherits his father’s business. Swede’s seemingly perfect life shatters when his daughter rebels by becoming a revolutionary and committing a deadly act of political terrorism during the Vietnam War. McGregor will also take on the lead role of Seymour, while Connelly is his wife and Fanning as the rebellious daughter. John Romano (The Lincoln Lawyer) wrote the screenplay.
McGregor has worked with a lot of top directors in his career and it will be interesting to see what he's picked up. Filming on American Pastoral is finally set to begin in September.
