Newcomer Alexandra Roach Joins Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent In Margaret Thatcher Biopic

Back in July, it was announced that a biopic of legendary British prime minister/demon spawn Margaret Thatcher was in the works, from "Mamma Mia" director Phyllida Lloyd. Meryl Streep was set to reunite with Lloyd to play Thatcher, and the omnipresent Jim Broadbent would play her husband Denis.

Word's been quiet on the film, but Baz Bamigboye at the Daily Mail reports that the film's set to go ahead, with shooting beginning in January, and both Streep and Broadbent are locked in. What's more, the film's added a pair of new cast members. Olivia Colman, best known for "Hot Fuzz" and "Peep Show," and who's got the lead role in Paddy Considine's directorial debut "Tyrannosaur," will play the pair's daughter Carol, and newcomer Alexandra Roach will play Thatcher in her 20s.

Roach has only been out of top drama school RADA for a few months, but she's already landed roles in the buzzed-about BBC show "Candy Cabs," and the TV adaptation of best-selling non-fiction tome "The Suspicions Of Mr. Whicher." We happened to catch a couple of her graduation shows at RADA, and Roach is definitely the real deal, and certainly capable of playing the younger version of Streep.

The two actresses will be apparently working together to catch Thatcher's voice patterns, to make sure their performances are in sync. Broadbent discussed the script, by Abi Morgan (who's also writing "The Little Mermaid" for Joe Wright), with Bamigboye and revealed that Denis, who passed away in 2003, would be a supernatural presence in the script: "His purpose would be to visit Margaret Thatcher now and go back over her life. I don't know how they plan to make me ghostly, or whether some other dramatic device will be used."

Previous reports that the project would focus on Thatcher during the Falklands War seem to be incorrect, as it sounds, from what Broadbent says, that it'll be a broader look at her life. Despite our intense dislike for the former PM, there's no denying that there's plenty of potential for a strong film about her life, and Morgan's a fine writer. The cast is extremely promising so far: our only qualm is with Lloyd, who demonstrated a total lack of understanding of filmmaking on "Mamma Mia." Nevertheless, with filming kicking off at the end of January, we might as well start engraving Streep's name on the 2012 Best Actress Oscar, right?