A long-overdue story about a woman whose face helped define Victorian art is finally stepping into the spotlight under her own name.
BUFF Studios and Tunji Entertainment are developing Eaton, a historical drama about Fanny Eaton, the Jamaican-born woman who became one of the most visible and influential models in Victorian England and a defining muse of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Susan Chardy is attached to star in the title role.
The film will mark the feature directorial debut of BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Alex Kayode-Kay, who is also co-writing and producing through his banner Tunji Entertainment. Kate Herron is attached as an executive producer.
Emma Zadow co-wrote the screenplay, with Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe also serving as executive producer. Casting for the ensemble is currently underway, and the project will be presented to buyers at the European Film Market.
Born in Jamaica in 1835, Eaton was the daughter of Matilda Foster, a woman born into enslavement. Historians believe her father may have been a British soldier named James Entwistle, who died not long after her birth.
After moving to the United Kingdom with her mother in the 1840s, Eaton worked as a domestic servant before beginning a second career as an artist’s model. She soon became a central figure for leading Pre-Raphaelite painters, appearing in works by John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Rebecca Solomon, and Simeon Solomon.
Though her face became iconic within some of the most celebrated artworks of the era, her personal history was often minimized or omitted. Today, she is widely recognized as Britain’s first Black supermodel of mixed heritage and an essential figure in conversations about visibility, legacy, and historical memory.
With Eaton, the filmmakers aim to place her name and life at the center of the frame.