The 24-year-old has been cast as the athlete in a big screen drama titled Gold, which follows his rivalry with Olympian Steve Ovett
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Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe will return to the big screen as the Olympic medallist Sebastian Coe in the forthcoming biopic Gold.
Based on Pat Butcher’s novel The Perfect Distance, the plot follows the athlete’s rivalry with fellow Olympian Steve Ovett in the run-up to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
Lord Coe famously ran against Ovett and was victorious in the 1500m, while Ovett won gold in the 800m.
In Los Angeles in 1984, Coe won silver in the 800m and gold in the 1,500m. Meanwhile, Ovett was unable to offer competition due to respiratory problems.
Coe retired in 1991 and became a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party in 1992.
He became a Life Peer in 2000 and oversaw London’s Olympic games last year – and now resides in Australia.
The film is written by Slumdog Millionaire’s Simon Beaufoy and Will Davies, with fellow The Women in Black co-star James Watkins starring alongside Radcliffe.
Radcliffe recently played Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings, directed by John Krokidas.
The film follows Ginsberg on his literary journey and sexual awakening in 1940s New York, within the intellectual circle that would become the Beat Generation.
Gold has been developed by BBC Films, the British Film Institute and AL Films. It is due to be shot in the UK and Russia in 2014.
Head of BBC Films Christine Langham, who is also the executive producer of the film, said: “Compelling, funny and moving, Gold is a gem of a story.”
Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy also sung Gold’s praises, saying that the film was a “brilliant story”.
He said: “I hadn’t realised how good it was until you dig into their past. They were fantastically different athletes and different people.”
Daniel Radcliffe to play Olympic medallist Sebastian Coe in new biopic
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