Linda Hamilton, Abbie Cornish Join 'Trust Me, I'm A Doctor' Movie

Linda Hamilton, Abbie Cornish and Kal Penn John Russo; Brian-Bowen Smith; Gabe Sachs

EXCLUSIVE: Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) and Abbie Cornish (Three Billboards) have come aboard to star opposite Kal Penn in Trust Me, I’m a Doctor, a new film from writer-director Thane Economou (The Wedding Party) that will launch sales at the Cannes Market.

UTA Independent Film Group is handling domestic rights, and Fortitude International overseeing international.

Pic is based on the memoir of Dr. Sandeep Kapoor (Penn), whose life is turned upside down when he is implicated in the death of his former patient — model, actress, and reality TV star, Anna Nicole Smith. The film takes place at the height of early 2000s tabloid culture and explores the intersection of fame, privacy, self-discovery and politics through the perspective of a man who wound up forced into the spotlight through the court of public opinion.

Cornish will play the late Anna Nicole Smith, with Hamilton as Ellyn Garafalo, the veteran attorney who served as Dr. Kapoor’s lifeline and legal counsel throughout the drug conspiracy trial. Currently in production, the film’s cast also includes David Julian Hirsh (Jupiter’s Legacy), Al Sapienza (The Sopranos), Eric Woolfe (Fatman), Charlotte Ubben (The Novice), and Dhirendra (A Nice Indian Boy).

Producers on Trust Me, I’m a Doctor include Ryan Hawkins (STADIUM), Al Engemann (Picture Movers Anonymous), Rebecca Case, and Geenah Krisht (Good Good Films), in association with RBF Productions. Production services are being handled by Spy Films out of Ontario. Penn is exec producing alongside Dan Spilo and David Gale.

“We all know the tragic story of the iconic Anna Nicole Smith, but very few of us – myself included – knew much about her young doctor: flamboyant, old school, blurring the lines between patient and acquaintance, and ultimately arrested and charged following her death,” reflected Penn in a statement to Deadline. “It’s a wild story brought to life in an especially tremendous script.”

Added Cornish, “Playing Anna Nicole Smith is such a dream. I am honored to have been chosen by our amazing producers and talented writer/director, Thane Economou. And I am so excited to work with our incredible cast and crew. I am blessed to stand alongside the charismatic and gifted Kal Penn and tell the tale of this moment in history. There are so many layers and chapters to Anna’s life story that I look forward to embodying on screen with all of my heart and soul. Truly grateful.”

Best known for her iconic role of Sarah Connor in the Terminator franchise, Hamilton will next be seen starring in the highly anticipated final season of Netflix’s Stranger Things.

Known for turns in Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Seven Psychopaths, among other films, Cornish is coming off a role opposite John Krasinski on the Prime Video series Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan.

Cornish is represented by Shanahan Management in Australia, The Artists Partnership in the UK, and Atlas Artists; Hamilton by Innovative Artists; Hirsh by Oscars Abrams Zimel & Associates; Sapienza by Zero Gravity Management, SDB Partners, People Store and The Characters Talent Agency; Woolfe by Oldfield Talent Management; Ubben by UTA; and Dhirendra by Roger Carey Associates, The Characters Talent Agency, and EKG Talent Group.