Julia Child Is Coming Back to the Big Screen in a New Documentary — And We Can’t Wait to See It

It’s only been a month since we last brought you news about the godmother of American culinary television coming back to the small screen (in particular, that Julia Child may be played by Joan Cusack in an HBO mini-series). Now, it seems Julia might return to our screens in yet another form, playing herself, as part of a documentary.

Betsy West and Julie Cohen (the same team that recently won an Emmy award and were nominated for an Oscar for their film RBG, about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg), Imagine Documentaries, and CNN Films will be coming together to work on Julia, the first ever documentary about Julia Child’s life, reports Food & Wine.

Previously, Julia’s life has been put on screen in fictional format through the movie Julie and Julia, and the general story of her life has been told many times over: She learned to cook while living in Paris, studied at Le Cordon Bleu, and ended up writing the unbelievably in-depth, meticulously written Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It wasn’t until she was nearly 50-years-old when she skyrocketed to fame with her book and then the long-running PBS television show that cemented her place in the American food world. 

According to Variety, the filmmakers chose to focus on Julia Child after their hit with RBG because “she was larger than life, literally,” and “totally self-confident and funny and authentic, and people really responded to it.” They cited the similarities between RBG and Julia, in terms of living in a very male-dominated world and breaking a path for other women to follow them into success in their field. “Now cooking shows are a dime a dozen, but back then what she did was revolutionary and really spawned a change in the way Americans thought about food,” explains one of the filmmakers, West, to Variety.

The film has been approved of by Julia’s family, friends, and foundation, many of whom will be interviewed for the production, says Food & Wine — a good sign for those looking to see her honored in the way she deserves.