In a film sure to break the internet, real-life sisters Rooney and Kate Mara are playing infamous tabloid twins Joan and Jean Holbrooke for Werner Herzog‘s buzzy “Bucking Fastard.”
Maverick auteur Herzog writes and directs “Bucking Fastard” based on the true story of the Holbrooke sisters who lived on the fringes of society and spoke in their own twisted language, shared the same dreams, and even loved the same man. Domhnall Gleeson and Orlando Bloom co-star in the feature, which is a sales title from HanWay Films.
“Bucking Fastard” is set in Ireland, where the sisters are assigned a government-issued social worker (Gleeson) in an attempt to help them adapt to modern life. The official logline teases that Joan and Jean begin digging a tunnel through a mountain range to find an imaginary land where true love is possible; Bloom plays their shared ex-lover, Gareth Maloney.
Herzog announced that “Bucking Fastard” will “complete a circle in an operatic triptych” with his two prior films, “Fitzcarraldo” and “Grizzly Man.” Herzog said of the sisters, played by both Maras, “Herzog announced that “Bucking Fastard” will “complete a circle in an operatic triptych” with his two prior films, “Fitzcarraldo” and “Grizzly Man.” Herzog said of the sisters, played by both Maras, “We cannot see the world as Jean and Joan Holbrooke see it, but we do see how the world reacts to them — through the courts and the press, through those that want to help and those who want to use them, through the eyes of beasts both tame and wild, and even through their own echoes in the core of the earth.”
Kate Mara recently told IndieWire while promoting hit comedy “Friendship” that she was skeptical over whether or not “Bucking Fastard” would even get made. To Mara, the project seemed “too good to be true,” especially as her debut acting alongside sister Rooney Mara.
“I have loved Werner Herzog’s films ever since I saw ‘Burden of Dreams,’” Mara said. “I just love his passion for film and his dedication to it, and how seriously he takes it. I just think it’s so rare and beautiful, and he’s such a brilliant writer and so truthful and honest and so unique and peculiar. He wrote me and my sister a beautiful letter asking us to be in this about a year ago. We were both so thrilled because we have been wanting to work together for a while, but nothing made sense. This one was immediately a no-brainer, and then it just so happened that it was these sisters who are so connected that they speak in unison and they dream the same dreams. It was so perfectly presented and the script was so special, and odd, so it’s an obvious thing to say yes to. But it kind of felt like it would never happen just because it it was like too good to be true.”
Mara added, “It was the most special experience working with Werner, who was wild and fantastical. He’s everything you want him to be. He just knows exactly what he wants. And then working with my sister was equally as much of a dream.”
“Bucking Fastard” is produced by Clara Wu Tsai, Ariel Leon Isacovitch, Agnes Chu, Kieran Corrigan, Emanuele Moretti, and Andrea Bucko. The film is a sales title that will be presented at the Cannes marketplace. Check out the first look image above.