In addition to directing, the 'Iron Man 3' actress will pen the script for the movie, which is an adaptation of Nella Larsen's 1920s Harlem Renaissance novel.

• Aug 7, 2018

AceShowbiz - Actress Rebecca Hall has recruited Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson to star in her directorial debut.

The pregnant Vicky Cristina Barcelona star, who is the daughter of late British theatre director Sir Peter Hall, will tackle Passing, an adaptation of Nella Larsen's 1920s Harlem Renaissance novel, in her first stint behind the camera.

And Thompson and Negga will join her for the project, which explores the practice of racial passing, a term used for a person classified as a member of one racial group who seeks to be accepted by a different racial group, according to Deadline.

Hall has also written the script.

"Nella Larsen's Passing is an astonishing book about two women struggling not just with what it meant to be black in America in 1929, but with gender conventions, the performance of femininity, the institution of marriage, the responsibilities of motherhood, and the ways in which all of those forces intersect," the first-time director says. "I came across the novel at a time when I was trying to reckon creatively with some of my personal family history, and the mystery surrounding my bi-racial grandfather on my American mother's side.

"In part, making this film is an exploration of that history, to which I've never really had access".

Hall made headlines earlier this year, when she became one of the first of filmmaker Woody Allen's leading ladies to vow never to work with him again amid ongoing claims he molested his adopted daughter when she was a child.

The actress donated her salary from Allen's film A Rainy Day in New York to the Time's Up anti-harassment movement after taking to Instagram to explain she regreted signing on to star in the film and admits she feels terrible about agreeing to work with the director.

"When asked to do so, some seven months ago, I quickly said yes (to the film)," she wrote. "He (Allen) gave me one of my first significant roles in film, for which I have always been grateful, it was one day in my hometown - easy. I have, however subsequently realized there is nothing easy about any of this.

"In the weeks following I have thought very deeply about this decision, and remain conflicted and saddened. After reading and re-reading Dylan Farrow's statements of a few days ago and going back and reading the older ones - I see, not only how complicated this matter is, but that my actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed. That is not something that sits easily with me in the current or indeed any moment, and I am profoundly sorry".

Allen has repeatedly denied his daughter and ex-wife Mia Farrow's molestation allegations and he has never been charged with a sex crime.