Carla Gugino to play Vivien Leigh in biopic The Florist

Actor Carla Gugino has been roped in to play Hollywood screen legend Vivien Leigh in the upcoming biopic The Florist.

The two-time Oscar-winner is known for playing Scarlett O'Hara, the central character in 1939's Hollywood classic Gone With the Wind, opposite Clark Gable. Leigh also played the landmark role of Blanche DuBois opposite Marlon Brando in 1951's A Streetcar Named Desire.

Nick Sandow, known for his role in 2013 drama series Orange Is The New Black, will direct The Florist, reported Variety. The film is expected to explore Leigh's struggle with bipolar disorder in the 1960s ahead of her preparation to play the lead in the Brodway production of John Gielgud’s Chekhov adaptation of Ivanov. Screenwriter Jayce Bartok, known for The Cake Eaters put the script together based on a box of love letters.

The Florist is set for production at the end of the summer in Philadelphia. Leigh meets Joseph Penn, who is a WWII veteran and a blue-collar florist who sees Leigh on a delivery. Leigh also attends a local psychiatric facility for electroconvulsive therapy. The synopsis read, "Amidst the backdrop of madness, Leigh and Penn become each other’s sources of truth, beauty, and love."

Recently seen in the critically-acclaimed Netflix limited series The Fall of the House of Usher where she played Verna, Gugino is also set to star in the HBO original The Girls on the Bus. She is best known for her hit Spy Kids film franchise, The Haunting of Bly Manor and Californication.

The Florist is produced by former CAA Agent Lauren Hale-Rieckhoff, in association with Vinyl Foote Productions. Jenna Mack will co-produce. The rest of the cast in the film are yet to be announced.