Ellie Bamber to play Kate Moss in Moss & Freud

Ellie Bamber has been tapped to portray supermodel Kate Moss in the upcoming movie Moss & Freud.

James Lucas's drama will give a dramatised account of the supermodel's relationship with British painter Lucian Freud and be set in London in the early 2000s, when she famously sat for one of his portraits.

Veteran British actor Derek Jacobi will portray Freud, who died in 2011 aged 88.

Moss will executive produce the project with the support of the Lucian Freud Archive, and in a statement, she revealed that she is deeply involved with the production.

"As this is such a personal story of mine it has been essential that I be involved with James in all aspects as the project has developed. I am thrilled by the recent casting and excited that the film will begin shooting soon, I cannot wait to see it," she said, reports Variety.

Moss, 49, posed for Freud, the grandson of psychologist Sigmund Freud, across a nine-month period at his studio in London's Holland Park. The drama will explore the kinship that blossomed between the model and ageing painter during that time. His nude portrait of Moss sold for almost $5 million (£4 million) in 2005.

Lucas, who has also written the film, is best known for his 2013 Oscar-winning live-action short The Phone Call, starring Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent.

Bamber has previously appeared in movies such as Nocturnal Animals and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms and TV shows including Willow and The Serpent.