Emma Stone is transformed into tennis icon Billie Jean King in the first look at new film Battle of the Sexes.
In a still replicating an archive photo of Billie and tennis player Bobby Riggs from 1973, the Hollywood beauty is pictured at a press conference announcing the epic tennis match, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Emma is transformed by Billie’s fringed brunette bob haircut, wears her signature glasses, and looks suitably sporty in a sleeveless athletic top.
The Birdman actress stars alongside Foxcatcher star Steve Carell as the athletes in the film, which replays the time the No. 2 ranked female tennis professional defied the odds and public opinion to beat the retired Wimbledon men’s champion.
THEN & NOW: #BobbyRiggs & me at #BattleOfTheSexes presser in 1973; @stevecarell and #EmmaStone as us, filming now!🎾 pic.twitter.com/5jTCsyoXAE
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) April 13, 2016
Billie accepted a lucrative financial offer to play Riggs in a nationally televised match for winner-takes-all prize of $100,000 (£70,000), in Houston, Texas on September 20, 1973. The showdown became the most-watched televised sports event of all time with an audience of an estimated 90 million worldwide.
Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the film will also star The Good Wife‘s Alan Cumming as Ted Tinling, the openly gay tennis player who designed Billie’s dress for the match and helped support her in coming out about her own sexuality.
Andrea Riseborough, Elizabeth Shue, and Sarah Silverman also join the cast of the movie, which is currently in production.
