Michael Sheen among cast confirmed for Channel 4’s Wagatha Christie drama
The two-part film will be titled Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Channel 4’s 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 Rooney’s barrister David Sherborne.
Mr Sherborne’s previous clients include Diana, Princess of Wales, Hollywood actor Michael Douglas and model Kate Moss.
He also represented Johnny Depp in the actor’s 2020 libel claim against the publisher of the Sun, News Group Newspapers (NGN).
Vardy’s 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 “substantially true”.
In the post, Rooney said she had carried out a months-long “sting operation” and accused Vardy of leaking “false stories” about her private life to the press.
Her sleuthing efforts saw her dubbed Wagatha Christie in reference to the popular mystery writer.
Channel 4’s two-part film, titled Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama, will recreate the “high 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 press”.
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 “exclusive access” 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.