EXCLUSIVE: Actor Steven Waddington (The Imitation Game) has penned a screenplay that he will direct based on the life of veteran Snooker player Jimmy White, with Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk) and Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) signed on to star. 

Barnard — best known for his breakout in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk but also has credits such as The Goldfinch and the BBC’s popular 2016 War & Peace adaptation — will play White in the pic. Producers told us the film will condense the life and career of the colorful six-time Snooker World Championship finalist into “one crazy night” during which he “is forced to confront his darker side.”

Produced by Black Water Pictures and Lipsync Productions, the feature shoots in London this April. Winstone and his long-term manager, Michael Wiggs, are also on board as co-producers. The film will mark Waddington’s feature directorial debut. 

“I want to illuminate the darkness Jimmy dragged himself through as he lost much more than those famous six World Championship finals,” said Waddington.

“Set during the 80s and 90s when these tournaments were played live to millions at home, this shy, complicated genius tore himself apart behind the scenes – and it’s this vicious, self-inflicted power struggle I want to capture, as his greatest match became Jimmy White Vs his own demons.”

Nicknamed “The Whirlwind” because of his flamboyant style of play, White is one of Snooker’s most popular exports. He is best known for reaching the final of the World Championships on six occasions without winning. White has also been vocal about his struggles with substance abuse, once telling a BBC documentary that at the height of his fame, he plowed through £35,000 ($44,000) on a crack cocaine addiction. White has also successfully battled Cancer and was awarded an MBE in 1999 for his services to the sport of Snooker.

Wiggs added: “Ray and I have admired Steve as an actor for many years, and when we read this incredibly sharp, poignant, and funny script, there was no question that we wanted to get involved.”

Aneurin Barnard is represented by Roger Charteris and Zoe Stoker at The Artists Partnership and Ziffren Brittenham for legal representation. Ray Winstone is represented by Michael Wiggs at Modern Collective. Steven Waddington is represented by Ness Evans at 42 and Penelope Killick at The Artists Partnership.