A two-part drama about the Wagatha Christie libel case will air this week, with some well-known faces portraying real people in Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama.
The cast of the Channel 4 project includes BAFTA-winning actor Chanel Cresswell, 32 – who is best known for her role in This Is England. She will portray Coleen Rooney, 36.
Natalia Tena, 38 – whose credits include Game of Thrones – joins her on-screen as Rebekah Vardy, 40, who lost a libel battle against Coleen over a social media post.
Michael Sheen, 53, will appear as Coleen's barrister David Sherborne. The actor has previously portrayed real-life figures such as Sir Tony Blair, 69, and David Frost.
Sherborne has previously represented some other high-profile clients. His previous clients have included the late Princess Diana, actor Michael Douglas and model Kate Moss.
Rebekah's barrister, Hugh Tomlinson, will be portrayed by Simon Coury. The actor has previously appeared in projects such as The Professor and The Madman.
Tomlinson has previously represented other high-profile individuals. His previous clients include King Charles III, easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and oligarchRoman Abramovich.
Footballers Wayne Rooney, 37, and Jamie Vardy, 35, will be played by Dion Lloyd and Marton Nagyszokolyai respectively. The real-life figures supported their wives in court.
The two-part film will recreate the high drama, high stakes High Court defamation case. The case had a huge impact on the lives of the two women at its heart and catapulted the two sparring legal teams into the spotlight.
The film will be created from the real court transcripts. Channel 4 have said it will "bring viewers all of the incredible and unbelievable moments from a case" that kept the public and media gripped.
Earlier this summer, Rebekah lost a libel battle against Coleen over a viral social media post, after a High Court judge found it was "substantially true".
In the post, Rooney said she had carried out a months-long "sting operation" and accused Rebekah of leaking "false stories" about her private life to the press. Her sleuthing efforts saw her dubbed Wagatha Christie in reference to the popular mystery writer.
In August, Disney+ confirmed that it is creating a three-part documentary series about the court battle with "exclusive access" to Coleen.
The streaming giants confirmed at the Edinburgh TV Festival they had won the exclusive rights to work with Coleen and have given the show the working title of Wagatha Christie.
Describing the project they wrote in an announcement: "The three-part series will take viewers from the circumstances that led to her infamous Instagram post that 'broke the Internet' all the way to Coleen being a successful defendant in one of the UK's highest-profile High Court defamation cases brought against her by Rebekah Vardy.
"In a story for our times, Wagatha Christie will reveal how fiercely determined and resilient Coleen had to be in order to protect her family from the challenges presented by the traditional and social media landscapes."
It had been rumoured that many broadcasters and streaming services were bidding to secure the rights to create a project about the high-profile court case.
Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama starts this evening (December 21) on Channel 4 from 9pm. The second part will air tomorrow night (December 22) from 9pm.
