Poppy Delevingne To Co-Star With Alex Pettyfer In 'Chelsea Cowboy'

EXCLUSIVE: Poppy Delevingne (Riviera) is to co-star opposite Alex Pettyfer (Magic Mike) in biopic The Chelsea Cowboy, based on the life of actor, gangster and lothario John Bindon.

Suicide Squad and Hobbs & Shaw star Idris Elba has boarded the production as executive producer.

Delevingne will play the role of aristocrat, model and actress Lady Victoria Hodge, who provided Bindon with access to the high life the working class boy craved. The glamorous couple endured a thirteen-year tumultuous relationship that defined Bindon’s life and serves as the backbone of the story.

UK outfit Moviehouse is repping world sales on the film at Cannes. Ben Cookson (Waiting for Anya) will direct.

Bindon was spotted in a London pub by Ken Loach who asked him to star in his film Poor Cow in 1967 and went on to play a violent mobster alongside Mick Jagger in Performance (1970) and a London crime boss in Michael Caine classic Get Carter (1971). He was well known for relationships with girlfriends including Christine Keeler and Hodge. According to legend, his affairs even extended to Princess Margaret, with whom he spent three weeks at her Caribbean home.

He was alleged to have connections to the Kray Twins and the Richardson Gang. In the late 1970s, in addition to acting work, he provided security for actors and musicians, including Led Zeppelin on their 1977 U.S. tour, where he was sacked for brawling backstage. In 1978, Bindon was tried for the murder of London gangster Johnny Darke. Bindon pleaded self-defense and was acquitted, but the case damaged his reputation.

Leon Butler (100 Streets) has scripted and produces, with the film scheduled to shoot in September, 2021. Producers are Life Begins and GCB films, alongside Pettyfer and James Ireland’s production company Dark Dreams Entertainment. Elba starred with Gemma Arterton in Butler’s movie 100 Streets.

“The team and I are delighted to have Poppy onboard and can’t wait to see her portrayal of Lady Victoria Hodge – a vibrant and vivacious character who fitted London’s high-society heyday like a glove”, director Cookson said.