Kirby Howell-Baptiste has signed on to join Emma Stone in Disney’s live-action “Cruella,” an origin story based on the classic “101 Dalmatians” villain Cruella de Vil.
Stone will portray de Vil, the villain who is obsessed with capturing the titular puppies in the 1961 animated classic. Emma Thompson, Paul Walter Hauser and Joel Fry will also appear in the film.
Details on Howell-Baptiste’s character have not been revealed.
“I, Tonya” filmmaker Craig Gillespie will helm “Cruella,” which is scheduled to hit theaters Dec. 23, 2020. The film is currently in production.
Tony McNamara penned the most recent version of the script, with Dana Fox having written a previous draft. Marc Platt, Kristin Burr and Andrew Gunn are producing the film.
Live-action adaptations of Disney classics have continued to be a major money-maker for the studio with “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” both crossing the billion dollar mark at the global box office.
Howell-Baptiste is best known as one of Sandra Oh’s MI6 partners, Elena, on the drama series “Killing Eve,” which recently earned Jodie Comer an Emmy for best actress in a drama series. Howell-Baptiste can currently be seen on the CBS All Access series “Why Women Kill.” Her other credits include roles on NBC’s “The Good Place” and HBO’s “Barry.”
She is repped by Mosaic, CAA and Troika.