American sporting heroes are all about blood, sweat, tears and triumph, but for the most part, we don’t hold with that kind of nonsense. Nope – British sporting heroes are more likely to be plucky underdogs who never quite make it.
Take Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, who leapt to fame (if not quite into medal consideration) at the 1988 Winter Olympics. He was notable for two reasons – one, he was Britain’s first ever representative in the two ski events and two, he came dead last in both. But he was still an icon.
And his fifteen minutes of fame are clearly not up despite his “triumph” having happened 20 years ago. Because producer John Heyman has been battling to bring his story to the screen and has just nabbed Steve Coogan for the role.
"His story is a very British story, and he is a very British kind of hero," Coogan blabbed to Variety. "When I read the story, I found it funny but, more surprisingly, quite moving. Quirky, dysfunctional, slightly nerdy, but his balls must be made of titanium." Steve’s clearly been thinking about it a little too much.
Declan Lowney will handle directing chores and Sean Macaulay has just handed in the latest draft of the script, with production kicking off in January.
