Geoffrey Rush, who won an Oscar for playing an offbeat real-life performing genius in ''Shine,'' will play another in an HBO biopic. According to the Hollywood Reporter, he'll star in ''The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,'' which will shoot in mid-2003 in London. Stephen Hopkins (TV's ''24'') will direct.
After playing eccentric pianist David Helfgott in ''Shine,'' playing the enigmatic Sellers should be a snap for the Australian actor. ''Life and Death'' is based on biographer Roger Lewis' book of the same title about Sellers, the chameleonic comedian who played multiple roles in such movies as ''Dr. Strangelove'' and ''The Mouse That Roared'' and starred several times as klutzy Inspector Clouseau in the ''Pink Panther'' movies. (Sellers is also the subject of a new biography, ''Mr. Strangelove,'' by Ed Sikov.) Sellers died in 1980 at age 54, just two years older than Rush will be when filming starts next year. Rush, currently on screen opposite Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon in ''The Banger Sisters,'' will also be seen as another real-life figure, Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, opposite Salma Hayek in ''Frida,'' opening in limited release later this month.
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