‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ TV adaptation adds ‘World on Fire’ star
The main cast has been announced for the upcoming The Tattooist of Auschwitz series.
Based on the bestselling Holocaust novel of the same name by New Zealand author Heather Morris, the television adaptation is filming right now.
The book was published in 2018 and has gone on to sell over 12 million copies around the world!
Leading the cast of Sky and Peacock’s limited series in the lead roles of Lale Sokolov and Gita Furman are Jonah Hauer-King and Anna Próchniak.
Hauer-King is best known to British period drama fans as Harry in the BBC’s World on Fire.
The hit World War II drama finally returns for a second season later this year, although not all the characters from Season 1 will be back.
Hauer-King has called it “a huge privilege to be telling Lale’s incredible story.”
The English actor commented: “I have the utmost respect and admiration for his ability to find humanity and kindness in the most inhumane of places.”
He added: “These scripts heartbreakingly and vividly depict this appalling time in our history, and I feel proud to be honouring Lale and Gita’s remarkable journey.”
Polish actress Anna Próchniak previously starred in French movie The Innocents, also set during the Second World War, and played Natalie Rose in BBC crime drama Baptiste.
Próchniak said: “Reimagining Gita Sokolov and her story for screen has been one of the greatest honours of my career so far, as well as a heartrending experience.
“I know this won’t be an easy story to tell,” she revealed, “but I will treat their story with the utmost respect.”
Also joining the cast are Jonas Nay from the brilliant German series Deutschland 83 as Stefan Baretzki, and Melanie Lynskey (The Last of Us, Yellowjackets) as author Heather Morris.
Described as a “heartrending series about bravery and love in the darkest of places”, the series tells the powerful true-life story of Lale Sokolov.
The official synopsis tells us he was “a Jewish prisoner who is given the job of tattooing identification numbers on fellow prisoners’ arms in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during World War Two.
“One day, [Lale] meets Gita when tattooing her prisoner number on her arm.
“They experience love at first sight, and so begins a courageous, unforgettable, and human story, told through one man’s memory and experience of Auschwitz-Birkenau; a tale of the very best of humanity in the very worst of circumstances.”
Next up for Jonah Hauer-King is Disney’s live action remake of The Little Mermaid, which arrives in cinemas this May.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz will premiere in 2024 on Sky Atlantic and streaming service Now in the UK, Ireland, Italy and Germany.
In the US, it’ll stream on Peacock.
Stan has the Australian rights for the series, and Viaplay has the rights in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland.
Heather Morris’s book The Tattooist of Auschwitz is available on Amazon.