Michelle Payne autobiography to become a film

Actor Rachel Griffiths has acquired the film rights for Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne’s forthcoming autobiography.

Griffiths will produce and direct the film, which will begin shooting in 2017. Payne’s autobiography Life As I Know It will be published in April by Melbourne University Publishing.

Griffiths told news.com.au: ‘Thanks to my fortunate meeting with [Payne] at Randwick late last year—and my obsessive passion for her story and for the moment she won the Melbourne Cup—I’m thrilled we’ve been given the rights to shoot her book.’

Griffiths said she was attracted to the story’s ‘very Downton Abbey world’. ‘[Payne] comes from a family of jockeys who are involved in that backstage part of racing that we don’t always see … You’ve got your trainers, your wealthy owners, your superstar jockeys flying in, side by side with country people who also have a horse in the Golden Slipper and a chance of winning.’ Griffiths added: ‘Michelle’s brother Stevie is such an inspirational character, too. He’s an inarguable advocate for what adults with disabilities can achieve with their lives.’

Category: Local news