Los Angeles- Taylor Swift has been cast
in a big screen version of the stage musical "Cats," in what
will be the pop singer's biggest movie role so far,
entertainment publications Variety and the Hollywood Reporter
said on Friday.
The 28-year-old "Look What You Made Me Do" singer will join
Oscar-winning singer and actress Jennifer Hudson, talk show host
James Corden and veteran British actor Ian McKellen in the
movie, the publications said.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats," based on a book of
poems by T.S. Eliot, was first staged in London in 1981 and has
been produced around the world. The movie version is a
production of Working Title Films, which did not return requests
for comment on the reports.
Swift, a 10-time Grammy winner whose "Reputation" album was
the biggest seller of 2017 in the United States, made her film
acting debut in the 2010 romantic comedy "Valentine's Day."
The Hollywood Reporter, citing sources close to the
production, said Hudson was expected to play Grizabella, whose
character sings the show's famous "Memory" ballad.
Swift is being eyed as the flirtatious red cat Bombalurina,
while McKellen will play the elderly feline leader Old
Deuteronomy, the Hollywood Reporter said.
Britain's Tom Hooper, whose past credits include Oscar best
picture "The King's Speech" and musical "Les Miserables," will
direct the movie, which is due to begin shooting in Britain in
November, Variety said.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant
Editing by Leslie Adler)