America Ferrera and Julia Stiles in Talks to Star in London Premiere of reasons to be pretty

By Mark Shenton
15 Oct 2010

America Ferrera
America Ferrera
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

"Ugly Betty" star America Ferrera (who played the title role in that series) and Julia Stiles are in talks to star in the London premiere of Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty.

Stiles has previously appeared in the West End in David Mamet's Oleanna, in a role she subsequently played in a different production on Broadway.

According to a story in London's Daily Mail, the play may land at a theatre owned by the Ambassador Theatre Group in March 2011. ATG managing director Howard Panter, who will produce the play with Tali Pellman, told the paper that the play is "about people being drawn to the superficial, and how we all get seduced by the surface – and how that can be a thorny path."

The play was nominated for the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play when it was seen at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre, running from March to June 2009 in a production that starred Marin Ireland, Steven Pasquale, Piper Perabo and Thomas Sadoski.

It is part of a trilogy of plays by LaBute exploring appearance that also comprises The Shape of Things and Fat Pig, both of which have been seen in the West End. The former was first seen in a production at the Almeida Theatre, then subsequently revived in a different production at the Ambassadors, while the latter was staged at the Trafalgar Studios and then transferred to the Comedy Theatre.

No further details are currently available.