Sabrina Carpenter and Margaret Qualley Join Tom Holland's Fred Astaire Biopic

Sabrina Carpenter will play Ginger Rogers opposite Tom Holland's Fred Astaire, with Margaret Qualley cast as Adele Astaire. Rolling Stone reported the casting on 26 September 2026, setting the three leads for a dance biopic, a film that fictionalises a real life story.

Qualley will play Adele Astaire, Fred Astaire's sister and dance partner. Carpenter takes the role of Ginger Rogers. Holland stars as Fred Astaire himself. The three parts cover the two central dancing partnerships in Astaire's early career.

The film is set up at Sony, as reported by Variety. It will be directed by Paul King. It is based on Kathleen Riley's biography The Astaires: Fred & Adele and has the approval of Fred Astaire's estate, meaning the family organisation that controls his rights has backed the production.

Holland has said he plans to do his own dancing in the role. He shared an update on the long-running project in July 2026, as reported by Deadline. A separate report that month noted his intention to perform the dance sequences himself, rather than rely on a double.

The latest casting was reported by Deadline in September 2026, with Variety also reporting on 25 September 2026 that Qualley and Carpenter had joined as Adele Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The Astaire story has been developed in different forms for several years. In December 2020, Deadline reported a separate version titled Fred & Ginger, then linked to Jamie Bell and Margaret Qualley as its intended stars.

What makes this stand out is the shape of the story now being told. By casting both Adele Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the film puts two partnerships at its centre rather than one. It follows Astaire from the sibling act to the celebrated film partnership that came next.