Simon Helberg is probably best known at the moment for playing nerdy engineer Howard Wolowitz in sitcom The Big Bang Theory (or if you’re into deep geeky cuts, Moist from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog). He’s had a few parts in movies, but it set for a bigger role in Stephen Frears’ new film, Florence Foster Jenkins, which will see the actor sharing the screen with Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant.
The film will chronicle the life of Florence Foster Jenkins (Streep), an heiress and socialite whose driving passion was opera. Specifically, she wanted to get on stage and sing, but was held back by the fact that she could barely warble a correct note.
Yet while Florence was convinced that the voice she heard in her head was mellifluous and lovely to all, her partner/manager, aristocratic actor St. Clair Bayfield (Grant) became determined to protect that delusion, convincing everyone around them to support her. He ended up organising a Carnegie Hall concert for her in 1944, which racked up ticket sales of more than 3,000. Jenkins died a month later. Helberg is set as pianist Cosme McCoon, who accompanied her on stage.
Frears is getting set to direct the film with no release date set right now. Helberg last worked on romantic drama comedy We’ll Never Have Paris, which he co-wrote, produced and directed alongside his wife, Jocelyn Towne. For more on Florence, listen to Streep talking about it during a recent visit to the** Empire Podcast**.