Edmund Donovan Joins Willem Dafoe & Greta Lee In Kent Jones’ ‘Late Fame’

EXCLUSIVE: Edmund Donovan, an up-and-comer known for roles in Alex Garland’s Civil War and Sundance genre-bender Your Monster, has landed a key role opposite Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee in Late Fame, the new film from director Kent Jones (Diane), which is entering production this week.

Written by May December‘s Samy Burch, Late Fame is a portrait of Ed Saxberger (Dafoe), a postal worker who wrote and published poetry such a long time ago that he’s forgotten he ever was a poet. When a group of young writers and students rediscovers one of his books and reclaims him as one of their own, he finds, against his better judgment, that he likes it: the attention and the hero worship draw him out of his solitary routines and renew his spirit. How quickly he starts to see himself as a true artist… how coarse and vulgar his old friends begin to look.

The young writers speak loftily of their passionate ambitions for themselves, for their art form, for the future! They reject technology — or at least they do in theory, and loudly… Among them is the mercurial Gloria (Lee), a talented and borderline-desperate theatre actress who walks an emotional tightrope and toys with the affections of her “boys.” She is more than ready to be admired by this legendary figure from out of a gritty New York golden age.

Donovan plays Meyers, a passionate and precocious student whose admiration for Ed’s forgotten work sets the stage for an exploration of artistic legacy and renewal.

Late Fame is produced by Pamela Koffler, Mason Plotts, and Christine Vachon of Killer Films, as well as Danny Roberts, H.S. Naji, and Jackie Langelier of Fresh Fish Films, Ethan Lazar of Morning Moon Productions, and Taylor Shung. Exec producers include Burch; Kyle Owens, Austen Rydell and Billie Lourd of Morning Moon Productions; Naia Cucukov and Peter Richards of Working Barn Productions; Nidal Dahl, Brev Moss, and Josh Plasse of Pine Bay Pictures; Robina Riccitiello and Josh Peters of Spark Features; Lorenza Veronica and Alessandro Del Vigne of In Bloom, as well as Peter Friedland, Sasha Klupchak, Evan Moore, and Lisa Wolofsky.

mk2 films is representing worldwide sales outside of North America, with Cinetic Media, UTA Independent Film Group and WME Independent co-repping North American rights.

Most recently, Donovan has been seen starring in Your Monster, the romantic horror-comedy from Caroline Lindy, which earned the Audience Favourite Award at Sundance London and hit theaters in October of last year. Also in 2024, Donovan was part of the cast of A24’s Civil War, directed by Garland and starring Kirsten Dunst, which premiered at SXSW and went onto theaters nationally in April.

Donovan’s breakout role in Samuel D. Hunter’s play Greater Clements earned him a Lucille Lortel Award, a Drama Desk Award, and an Obie. He made his Broadway debut opposite Uzo Aduba in the Tony-nominated Clyde’s and will next be seen starring opposite Sydney Sweeney and Julianne Moore in Michael Pearce’s Echo Valley for Apple.

Donovan is represented by UTA, Entertainment 360, and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols.