Benedict Cumberbatch Will Star as Father of Romany Boxer in ‘Gypsy Boy’
Benedict Cumberbatch will take a break from superhero duties for a bit and will be starring in Gypsy Boy, a film based on the memoirs of Mikey Walsh, a boxer who grew up in the tight-knit Romany community that won’t accept anyone back once they leave.
The Wrap reports that Cumberbatch will play Walsh’s father, a Romany boxer himself who encourages his son for to take up the family sport, despite Mikey’s pull towards another life. He left his Romany community in 1996 after he came out as gay, and in 2010 and 2011 wrote two best-selling autobiographies about his time spent amongst his people.
Here is the synopsis of the first book, Gypsy Boy:
Mikey Walsh was born into a Romany Gypsy family. They live in a secluded community, and little is known about their way of life. After centuries of persecution, Gypsies are wary of outsiders, and if you choose to leave you can never come back.
This is something Mikey knows only too well.
Growing up, he didn't go to school, he seldom mixed with non-Gypsies, and the caravan became his world. It was a rich and unusual upbringing, but although Mikey inherited a vibrant and loyal culture, his family's legacy was bittersweet, with a hidden history of violence and grief. Eventually Mikey was forced to make an agonizing decision―to stay and keep secrets, or escape and find somewhere to belong.
Gypsy Boy is set to be directed by X+Y’s Morgan Matthews. They’re currently looking for an actor to play Mikey.