Antonio Banderas will bring together two of his greatest passions – film and fashion – in his latest movie role. The Spanish actor, who is currently studying at fashion institution Central Saint Martins, has been confirmed to play Gianni Versace in a new biopic about the late designer's life.
Filming is set to start in Milan in December, with director Bille August at the helm. Italian media reports state that filming will also take place in Reggio Calabria, the town where Gianni was born, and Miami, where he was killed in 1997.
Antonio Banderas will play Gianni Versace in a film about his life
Few other details have been released, however the Versace family state they have not authorised the movie.
Versace told WWD it "has neither authorised nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming movie about Versace. The movie should only be seen as a work of fiction."
Antonio surprised fans in August when he announced that he had decided to go back to school, telling Central Saint Martins' magazine 1Granary: "I got to a point where I've done 92 movies - I am not going to stop - I'm going to continue doing movies and producing, and I want to direct more - but there were other things in my life that I was interested in."
Giovanni's family say they haven't authorised the film
Antonio said changes to his personal life had inspired him to finally make the move.
"Last year my personal life took a turn and I decided to take some steps ahead," he said. "As something that had been cooking in my brain for a while, I decided to put a company together called Antonio Banderas Designs, which encompasses the perfumes that have been there for 19 years, but I also jumped into the world of glasses."
The 55-year-old, whose studies focus on creating menswear, presented his first collection in collaboration with Scandinavian high street brand Selected in May, and admitted at the time he had been inspired by Versace to add gold metal embellishments onto his biker jacket.