Rupert Friend will romance Michelle Pfeiffer under the watchful eye of Kathy Bates in Stephen Frears' French period drama "
Cheri."
Friend will play the title character, and Bates is in final negotiations to play his mother, Madame Peloux, a famed courtesan in 1920s France. Peloux sends the spoiled
Cheri to her courtesan pal Lea de Lonval (Pfeiffer) for an adult education, but their six-year affair comes to a painful end when he's forced to marry a wealthy young woman.