Lance Armstrong

Ben Foster, the actor who is portraying the disgraced former world champion cyclist Lance Armstrong in the upcoming movie The Program, has revealed the alarming effects that performance-enhancing drugs have had on his body.

Speaking to the BBC’s ‘Newsbeat’, the 34 year old actor said that he took part in an entirely legal “programme which was supervised by a doctor” that took place before shooting commenced, because he wanted to “better understand why they took drugs”.

The Program is released on Wednesday October 14th in Britain, having been out in North America a month ago, and is an adaptation of a book called ‘Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong’ by journalist David Walsh (played by Chris O’Dowd in the movie). Foster was intent on getting as close to the mindset of a competitive cyclist as possible, but concluded that the drugs “definitely damaged” his body despite only being on them for a short time.

Continue reading: Ben Foster Reveals Drugs He Took In Preparation For Lance Armstrong Role "Damaged" His Body

The first look at Ben Foster as Lance Armstrong in Stephen Frears's untitled biopic has rolled out online, showing the young American actor tearing through a likely French street in his recognisable Postal Service colours.

Ben Foster as Lance Armstrong in Stephen Frears' Untitled Project

Foster - who recently starred opposite Daniel Radcliffe in Kill Your Darlings - leads the cast as drug cheat Armstrong, while Chris O'Dowd plays journalist David Walsh. There's even an appearance from Jesse Plemons who Breaking Bad fans will recognise as Todd. 

Continue reading: First Look: Ben Foster As Lance Armstrong, What Do We Think? [Picture]

Bradley Cooper is reportedly eyeing the producer spot on an upcoming Warner Bros. project – a biopic about Lance Armstrong. The race to be the first to tell the story of the seven-time Tour de France winner, whose admission to using steroids lead to his defamation and the stripping of his titles, is on. The movie has found a home at Warner Bros. in partnership with Atlas Entertainment and will be directed by Jay Roach, according to Deadline.

Cooper has been slated to produce and star in the flick.

Along with a possible producer’s credit, Cooper is reportedly in talks for one of the two major parts in the film – one being that of Armstrong himself and the other - Tyler Hamilton, the former Armstrong teammate who was part of Armstrong’s inner circle on the US Postal Service Team and who came forward and told what he saw Armstrong doing in a 60 Minutes segment. Hamilton is a controversial character, since his admission led to attacks and heated criticism from Armstrong’s camp. Up until his eventual confession, Lance Armstrong had been adamant about the claim that he was not and had not been doping.

Continue reading: Lance Armstrong As Hollywood's Latest Character Of The Moment: Bradley Cooper To Produce Warner Bros. Biopic

Ben Foster has emerged as the number one candidate to take on the role as Lance Armstrong in the upcoming biopic about the seven-time Tour de France winner who was stripped of his titles in 2012 following an investigation into claims that he had used performance enhancing drugs. According to Deadline, who broke the story, Foster is in the final stages of discussions with the film's bosses, with filming expected to begin as early as fall this year.

Foster is in 'advanced talks' with studio bosses

The Stephen Frears-directed biopic, which is being penned by Trainspotting screenwriter John Hodge, will follow Armstrong from his battle with cancer in the mid-1990's, leading up until his much-publicised fall from grace in 2012 when he was found guilty of using illegal, performance enhancing drugs. Although he denied ever using drugs throughout his career, the disgraced cyclist admitted to doping during an interview with Oprah Winfrey in January 2013.

Continue reading: Ben Foster Lined-Up To Play Lance Armstrong In Movie Biopic

When a tragic case of deceit, drug misuse and lies sees a hero fall from grace so spectacularly, it makes global news, what's the best way to deal with it? Cut an interview together to the tune of a 90's hit song and put it on the Internet. That's how. 

Armstrong had been declared winner of the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times between 1999 and 2005, before being disqualified from each of those races and banned from cycling for life for doping offenses by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in 2012. A cancer survivor, he is the founder of the Lance Armstrong Foundation - later renamed Livestrong Foundation after the drug controversy - which provides support for cancer patients.

Continue reading: Lance Armstrong Creep Mashup Hits The Internet (VIDEO)

As was widely expected, a movie about disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong is set to go into production after Bad Robot partners JJ Abrams and Bryan Burk snapped up the rights to Juliet Macur’s forthcoming book Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong, reports Deadline.com. Macur – a sports reporter for The New York Times – has covered Armstrong’s career for over a decade, through the cyclist’s Tour de France wins, his recovery from cancer and eventual doping revelations. The American had denied using performance enhancing drugs for years, though finally admitted to cheating during a much-publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey last week.

Sony Pictures has long had an Armstrong movie project in the works, though that movie was dropped when the cyclist’s fall from grace began. It was set to star Jake Gyllenhaal and would have told the ‘American hero’ narrative of Armstrong’s rollercoaster career. Of course, the story has changed dramatically and Abrams film will focus on a cheat who pays a high price for his lies. As movie writer Mike Fleming Jr reports, the whole thing is reminiscent of when Tom Cruise and Cameron Crowe made a deal with Phil Spector to tell the story of the producer’s life story, though the director went on record as saying the film “lacked a good third act.” That was obviously provided shortly afterwards when Spector was convicted of shooting the actress Lana Clarkson, but Universal, Crowe and Cruise never went forward with the project. It’s likely that JJ Abrams and his team will tackle the Armstrong project head on, but who could play the man himself? Who has the presence to portray such a complex character on-screen? Here’s 10 actors who we think could become Lance:

Could Jake Gyllenhall Play Lance Armstrong?

Continue reading: Lance Armstrong Movie: 10 Actors Who Could Play The Disgraced Cyclist (Pictures)

Lance Armstrong [L] Reportedly Came Clean To Oprah Winfrey [R] About His Performance-Enhancing Drug Taking

Lance Armstrong confessed to doping throughout his extraordinary cycling career during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, taped on Monday (January 14, 2013). Though the interview will not be aired until Thursday, sources told the Associated Press that the seven time Tour-de-France winner admitting using performance-enhancing drugs when questioned by the Queen of Daytime Television.

Continue reading: Armstrong's Confession: Lance Tells Oprah: "I Doped"

It seems Lance Armstrong's doping nightmare has only just begun. Though the Livestrong man has already been stripped of his six Tour de France titles, he's now feeling the financial repercussions of the United States Anti-Doping Agency's damning report on his career in cycling.

Nike - arguably Armstrong's biggest sponsor - has decided to end their association with the star, saying that "due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Armstrong participated in doping... we have terminated his contract." The cyclist, 41, has also stepped down as chairman of his charity Livestrong, saying in a statement, "To spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship." Armstrong has always vehemently denied doping, but gave up his fight against the charges in August. Nike - who marketed Armstrong as one of their primary stars, alongside Tiger Woods - added that it was "misled" by the American for more than a decade.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a report last week detailing the allegations of widespread doping by Armstrong and his teams when he won the Tour de France seven times between 1999 and 2005. The report included testimony from 11 of his former teammates, including Tyler Hamilton, whose book 'The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs' claimed Armstrong was running a highly organised doping operation.