A glamour girl's guide to 'kicking cancer's butt'

[Lithos]

A New York socialite has used lipstick, high heels and her art to turn a fight with the disease into a book - now to be filmed with star Cate Blanchett

It was an unusual reaction. When Marisa Acocella Marchetto was diagnosed with cancer she responded to the news by 'pulling on her five-inch heels to kick cancer's butt'.

It was 2004 and the New York socialite, also a renowned cartoonist for the New Yorker and the New York Times, was due to marry in three weeks. The marriage went ahead. Two years later, and after a graphic novel based on the events has been lauded by the critics, Marchetto's story is set to be made into a film with Cate Blanchett in the lead role.

Marchetto, 45, is due to meet Blanchett and her husband, the screenwriter Andrew Upton, to finalise the details of the movie, Cancer Vixen.

'Cate playing me is a dream come true,' Marchetto told The Observer. 'She was the only person we had in mind, she was always my first choice.' Working Title, the British producer behind Four Weddings and a Funeral, is developing the project with Blanchett.

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[babylonsister]

1. 'Call me if you want a healthy relationship.' How twisted is that? nt

[Lithos]

2. Some people do that

Try and take advantage of people when they're down. He did turn that one's offer down though.