British actor Tobias Menzies, Emmy winner for Netflix’s “The Crown,” has joined the cast of Apple Original Films’ Formula One racing feature, Variety can reveal.
Menzies joins a cast led by Brad Pitt, alongside Damson Idris (“Snowfall”) and BAFTA winner Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”). The as yet untitled film stars Pitt as a former driver who returns to the sport. Menzies’ role is being kept under wraps at the moment. The film will shoot across various Grand Prix’s this summer.
Joseph Kosinski (“Top Gun: Maverick”) directs and produces the Apple Studios feature alongside seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton under his Dawn Apollo Films banner; Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films; and Plan B Entertainment. The film is made in collaboration with the whole F1 community – including Formula 1, the 10 teams and the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile). The screenplay is by Oscar-nominee Ehren Kruger (“Top Gun: Maverick”).
The project marks Apple Studios second feature with Pitt and Plan B Entertainment who are partnering, along with George Clooney’s Smokehouse, on a Jon Watts directed untitled film starring Pitt and Clooney.
Menzies stars alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus in A24’s “You Hurt My Feelings,” directed by Nicole Holofcener, which is currently on release in the U.S. It will close Sundance London and has been picked up for U.K. and Ireland distribution by Signature Entertainment.
The actor is also known for his roles in HBO’s “Rome” and “Game of Thrones” and Starz’s “Outlander.” In “The Crown,” he won a supporting actor Emmy in 2021 for playing the late Prince Philip, the former Duke of Edinburgh. Menzies will next be seen in the lead role of Edwin Stanton in “Manhunt,” the upcoming Apple TV+ series from writer-producer Monica Beletsky. Directed by Carl Franklin, the series is based on James Swanson’s book “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer.” After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his secretary of war and friend Stanton begins the manhunt to track down John Wilkes Booth as it drives him into madness.
Menzies is represented by Conway Van Gelder Grant in the U.K. and WME in the U.S.