Eliza Dushku-Produced Mapplethorpe Biopic Begins Filming

WATERTOWN, MA – Shooting began Tuesday on the Eliza Dushku-produced biopic about photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, according to a post on the Watertown native's Instagram page. Dushku posted a picture of a clapper with the caption "Day 1 #Mapplethorpe" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

According to the Boston Globe, the film has been in development hell for more than a decade, most recently undergoing a casting change to the role of Patti Smith. The "punk poet laureate" and Mapplethorpe's real-life best friend was originally going to be played by "Girls" actress Zosia Mamet, who dropped out earlier this year due to scheduling conflicts.

"Imposters" actress Marianne Rendón has since been cast as Smith, alongside "Doctor Who" alum Matt Smith as Mapplethorpe.

Smith, who documented her relationship with Mapplethorpe in the 2010 memoir "Just Kids," is not involved with the project, but the film does have the support of The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, according to IndieWire. Mapplethorpe created the foundation a year before his death from AIDS in 1989.

The film is written and directed by Ondi Timoner, a documentarian and two-time winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. This is Timoner's first feature film.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons