Anna Nicole Smith’s story is coming to the screen in Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.
Smith rose from a small-town fast-food worker into a global pop culture icon. Her breakthrough came when she was named the 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year and became the face of Guess jeans. Smith’s life was extremely publicized and included her controversial marriage to 89-year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall II, before her own tragic and untimely death.
Variety has shared a first look at Abbie Cornish as the iconic Smith in the upcoming movie adaptation, Trust Me, I’m a Doctor. The movie is written and directed by Thane Economou and tells the story of Dr. Sandeep Kapoor (played by Kal Penn), who was Smith’s doctor and was charged with several felonies related to prescribing medications to Smith before her tragic death in 2007. He was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing after a nine-week trial.
Trust Me, I’m a Doctor is based on Kapoor’s memoir of the same name released in 2017. Trust Me, I’m a Doctor: My Life Before, During and After Anna Nicole Smith details events from Kapoor’s perspective as his medical career was derailed following accusations and a criminal trial regarding the alleged excessive prescriptions written for Smith. Penn spoke of Cornish’s performance as the iconic Smith and stated:
“She really embodied Anna Nicole in a very striking way. She was a completely different person. I briefly met Anna Nicole a handful of times way back when I was starting my career, and she was on a reality show. I never really had any conversations of any note with her but it definitely brought me back to that time. Abbie is excellent. She’s phenomenal in this role.”
Smith’s real life was incredibly documented. She was labeled a 90s sex symbol and had dreams of being like her idol Marilyn Monroe before gracing the cover of Playboy in 1992. Her marriage with Marshall only lasted 14 months up until his death in 1995, and he didn’t include her in his will. That then led to a multi-state legal battle over his multimillion-dollar estate.
In the early 2000s, the model had her own reality show on E! titled The Anna Nicole Show, which shone a light on some disturbing facts surrounding her personal life. With public struggles, media scrutiny, prescription drug addictions, and unfathomable tragedy. Three days after the birth of her daughter, her 20-year-old son Daniel died of a drug overdose.
Less than six months after his death, Smith died of an accidental prescription drug overdose at 39 years old, which then led to a highly publicized paternity battle over her daughter, whose father was confirmed to be photographer Larry Birkhead.
Trust Me, I’m a Doctor will be released on October 16.
Director
Thane Economou
Writers
Thane Economou