Clarkson nets 'Miracles' role

O'Connor to helm Disney pic

By MICHAEL FLEMING

Clarkson

Patricia Clarkson, whose performance in "Far From Heaven" has won her prizes from the New York Film Critics Circle and National Society of Film Critics, is set to star in "Miracles," the Disney film about the unlikely gold medal success of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. Gavin O'Connor directs, with shooting to begin in March in Vancouver.

Clarkson will play the wife of head coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell), who was the last player to be cut from the last U.S. team to win the gold. He bands together a ragtag group that defeats a Soviet team thought to be unbeatable.

Clarkson is in Sundance with four films on display: "The Station Agent," "Pieces of April," "All the Real Girls" and "The Baroness and the Pig." She also starred in "The Safety of Objects" and the upcoming "Dogville."