Culture
Cast confirmed for upcoming Wagatha Christie drama coming to Channel 4
2 years ago
Channel 4âs drama based on the Wagatha Christie case will star This Is England actress Chanel Cresswell as Coleen Rooney and Harry Potter star Natalia Tena as Rebekah Vardy.
Michael Sheen, known for his portrayals of real-life figures such as Sir Tony Blair and broadcaster David Frost, will appear as Rooneyâs barrister David Sherborne.
Mr Sherborneâs previous clients include Diana, Princess of Wales, Hollywood actor Michael Douglas and model Kate Moss.
He also represented Johnny Depp in the actorâs 2020 libel claim against the publisher of the Sun, News Group Newspapers (NGN).
Vardyâs barrister, Hugh Tomlinson, will be portrayed by Simon Coury, best known for appearing in The Professor And The Madman.
His previous clients include the King, easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Wayne Rooney will be played by Dion Lloyd and Jamie Vardy will be played by Marci Nagyszokolyai.
Earlier this summer, Vardy, 40, lost a libel battle against 36-year-old Rooney over a viral social media post, after a High Court judge found it was âsubstantially trueâ.
In the post, Rooney said she had carried out a months-long âsting operationâ and accused Vardy of leaking âfalse storiesâ about her private life to the press.
Her sleuthing efforts saw her dubbed Wagatha Christie in reference to the popular mystery writer.
Channel 4âs two-part film, titled Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama, will recreate the âhigh drama, high stakes High Court defamation case that followed, a case that had a huge impact on the lives of the two women at its heart and catapulted the two sparring legal teams into the spotlight, where much like Rooney and Vardy, their every move in the courtroom was dissected and scrutinised in the pressâ.
The show has been created from the court transcripts and will air later this year.
In August, Disney+ confirmed it is creating a three-part documentary series about the court battle with âexclusive accessâ to Coleen Rooney.
It had been rumoured that many broadcasters and streaming services were bidding to secure the rights to create a project about the high-profile court case.