According to Deadline, Robbie snagged the lead in in "I, Tonya," a flick about Harding's rise to fame in the world of figure skating in the late '80s and early '90s, and her subsequent fall from grace after the Nancy Kerrigan scandal. Harding became a superstar thanks to her feisty spirit and undeniable talent, and was the first female ice skater to land a triple axle in competition. She was expected the challenge fellow U.S. star Kerrigan for the gold medal at the 1994 Olympics, but at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships earlier that year, Kerrigan was clubbed in the knee by an unknown assailant.
It was soon discovered that Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, had hired several men to carry out the bizarre attack, in an effort to prevent Kerrigan from attending the Olympics. Kerrigan eventually recovered, though, and went on to win a silver medal; Harding fizzled in the event, finishing a distant eighth.
The scandal set off a worldwide media firestorm, and remains to this day one of the most shocking events in sporting history. Harding was eventually banned from competitive skating for life, and was stripped of her 1994 U.S. Championship title (which she won in Kerrigan's absence after the attack). To this day, she has maintained that she didn't know about Gillooly's involvement in the attack until after it was carried out.
Needless to say, this is an incredibly juicy role for Robbie, and interest level in the story continues to remain high. ESPN even devoted an installment of its "30 for 30" series to the scandal, producing the excellent "The Price of Gold" in time for the event's 20th anniversary in 2014. It's unclear just how closely this project will mirror ESPN's, though considering "I, Tonya" is not a documentary, we'd imagine screenwriter Steven Rogers will take some liberties with the tale.
Deadline's report also says that Rogers based his script on extensive interviews with both Harding and Gillooly, an interesting detail. It's believed that "I, Tonya" will be a more sympathetic look at Harding, who grew up poor in a working class community, and was considered the scrappy, unrefined counterpart to ice princess Kerrigan, who hailed from a wealthy family.
Robbie has reportedly taken charge of the search for a director for the project, and we hope she lands one soon. We're dying to see this film (and see who they cast as Kerrigan).
[via: Deadline]
Photo credit: Getty Images
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