Sabrina Carpenter & Margaret Qualley Join Tom Holland’s Fred Astaire Biopic as Ginger Rogers & Adele Astaire

Sabrina Steps Into Ginger Rogers’ Heels as Sony’s Astaire Film Finds Its Dance Partners

Sabrina Carpenter and Margaret Qualley are joining Tom Holland in Sony’s upcoming Fred Astaire biopic, giving director Paul King three performers with very different kinds of dance-floor history to play with.

Miss Carpenter is stepping into the role of the late-great, mighty talented Ginger Rogers, while Qualley will play Adele Astaire — Fred’s older sister and original dance partner. Señor Holland, of course, takes on the dapper-dandy king of dance himself.

Who Was Ginger Rogers? Far More Than Fred Astaire’s Dance Partner

For anyone meeting the name through Sabrina’s casting, Ginger Rogers was one of the defining performers of Hollywood’s Golden Age — an actress, singer and dancer whose screen partnership with Fred Astaire became one of movie history’s most celebrated pairings. Together they made a run of musical classics that included Top Hat, Swing Time, Shall We Dance and, years later, The Barkleys of Broadway.

And Rogers was never simply “the woman dancing with Fred.” Her dramatic career stood on its own: she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for 1940’s Kitty Foyle, proving the same performer who could glide through an RKO musical could also carry a dramatic film without Astaire anywhere in sight.

Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers in The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) — Remastered Dance Scene

Watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers together in a remastered 4K dance scene from the 1949 musical The Barkleys of Broadway.

Sabrina Carpenter Is Ginger Rogers, Margaret Qualley Is Adele Astaire

The distinction matters because Adele wasn’t Fred’s wife — she was his sister, his first major stage partner and a star in her own right. Fred and Adele Astaire built their reputation together on Broadway and London’s West End before she retired from performing and Fred’s Hollywood chapter took off.

That later chapter is where Rogers enters the picture. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers became one of classic Hollywood’s defining screen partnerships, but the biopic now has room to show both halves of Fred’s dance story: Adele before Hollywood, Ginger once the movies came calling.

Carpenter and Qualley Already Have a Little On-Screen History

The casting also creates a neat 2026 reunion. Earlier this year, Carpenter and Qualley teamed up on Sabrina’s “House Tour” music video, which they co-directed and appeared in alongside Madelyn Cline. So before they ever step into old-Hollywood territory together, the pair have already proven they know how to share a frame — and a little chaos.

Qualley also arrives with a substantial dance background, while Holland famously trained and performed as Billy Elliot on London’s West End. Holland has spoken about wanting to handle Astaire’s choreography himself rather than lean on a dance double, making the physical side of the role a major piece of the production.

Paul King Directs Sony’s Long-Developing Fred Astaire Biopic

Paul King, the filmmaker behind Paddington and Wonka, is directing. The project centers heavily on Fred’s relationship with Adele before following his transition into the Hollywood career that made him a screen legend.

Production has been reported to be targeting a 2027 shoot, with Holland already preparing for the dancing. With Carpenter now playing Rogers and Qualley playing Adele, Sony has finally put faces to the two women who define the most important dance partnerships in Astaire’s story.

Sabrina Carpenter Live at Austin City Limits Music Festival 2025

The tour footage below captures Carpenter live at Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2025, before her move into the role of Ginger Rogers.

Source: Variety; The Hollywood Reporter; American Film Institute; Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Production List. Sabrina Carpenter promotional imagery and archival Ginger Rogers imagery appear above.