Rhys Ifans to Play James Joyce in 'Lucia' Biopic

Most people have heard of the iconic Irish author James Joyce, if only because we were probably required to read either Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or short stories from The Dubliners in high school. But he was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, thanks in large part to his Ulysses, which reimagined Homer's epic poem over the events of a day in Dublin.

Told through a variety of literary styles, the novel essentially introduced stream-of-consciousness storytelling as we know it today and explored themes that spanned sexuality, antisemitism, Catholicism, Irish nationalism, and more. But most are probably completely unfamiliar with the story of his daughter, Lucia Joyce, whose troubled life and complicated relationship with her famous father often seems like the stuff of fiction. But that's about to change with the arrival of Lucia, a feature film that aims to tell Joyce's daughter's story on her own terms.

Born in Trieste in 1907, Lucia was the second child of Joyce and his partner (later wife) Nora Barnacle. She grew up in Italy and later Zurich before the family moved to Paris in 1920, where she pursued her dream of becoming a dancer. She was rumored to have been lovers with a young Samuel Beckett, though their relationship reportedly only lasted a short time, given that the playwright was involved with another woman and more interested in building a professional relationship with Lucia's famous father.