Tony Nominee Gabriel Byrne to Play Nobel Prize-Winning Playwright Samuel Beckett in Biopic Dance First

Gabriel Byrne, a two-time Tony nominee and Golden Globe winner, will portray Nobel Prize-winning playwright Samuel Beckett in an upcoming film, Dance First, according to Variety. The film, written by Neil Forsyth, will be directed by Oscar winner James Marsh.

Titled after Beckett’s philosophy to “dance first, think later,” the film is a sweeping account of the life of this icon of 20th-century literature. Beckett, known for penning Waiting for Godot as well as many other plays and novels, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969.

Byrne made his Broadway debut in 2000 in A Moon for the Misbegotten, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. He returned to Broadway in 2005 to star in A Touch of the Poet and in 2016 to headline Long Day's Journey Into Night with Jessica Lange, for which he received a second Tony Award nomination. Byrne is known for his role on HBO's In Treatment, which earned him two Emmy nominations and a win at the Golden Globe Awardss. He also earned a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album in 1998.

Director Marsh won the Oscar for Best Documentary with Man on Wire and is known for directing the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything, which garnered five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

More information, including a release date, is to be announced.