It's time for Jennifer Aniston to break out the tiara and sash.
Entertainment Weekly reports that the Friends star has been cast as a former beauty queen in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of Julie Murphy's 2015 YA novel Dumplin'. Aniston will play Rosie, the mother of plus-size Texas teen Willowdean (Dumplin' is Rosie's nickname for her) who aspires to win a local pageant in her town of Clover City.
Anne Fletcher of The Proposal and Hot Pursuit will direct, with a script written by Aniston's Cake and The Switch collaborator (and former bridesmaid) Kristin Hahn.
IMDB lists the project, which is reportedly slated to begin production this summer, as still in development. No casting has yet been announced for the lead character of Willowdean, who is really the heart and soul of this body-positive story.
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The story follows Willowdean, or Will, as her plans to protest the Miss Teen Blue Bonnet Pageant overseen by her demanding mother result in her actually joining in as a contestant. A lover of Dolly Parton songs and girlfriend to the handsome Private School Bo, Will represents a confident teen who learns to embrace her body, even when the outside world doesn't.
"I hate seeing fat girls on TV or in movies," the character says in the book, "because the only way the world seems to be okay with putting a fat person on camera is if they're miserable with themselves or if they're the jolly best friend. Well, I'm neither of those things."
Though she struggles with insecurities like anyone else, Will refuses to apologize for her "huge, bumpy" and rightly mocks the concept of having a "bikini body."
Aniston's casting gives the film some A-list weight, but we're more excited to see who lands the role of Will. Please don't screw this up, Hollywood.
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