A Sony Pictures Classics Release
Based on Peter Turner's memoir, the film follows the playful but passionate relationship between Turner (Bell) and the eccentric Academy Award®-winning actress Gloria Grahame (Bening) in 1978 Liverpool. What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme fatale and her young lover quickly grows into a deeper relationship, with Turner being the person Gloria turns to for comfort. Their passion and lust for life is tested to the limits by events beyond their control.
Annette Bening is a four-time Academy Award nominee, two-time Golden Globe-winner, and two-time recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Award. Her recent work on screen includes Michael Mayer's adaptation of Anton Chekhov's play The Seagull opposite Saoirse Ronan, in Mike Mills' 20th Century Women opposite Greta Gerwig and Billy Crudup, and in Warren Beatty's Rules Don't Apply.
In 2011, Bening starred alongside Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo in Focus Features' critical and commercial sensation The Kids Are All Right. Her role as Nic earned her a Golden Globe and New York Film Critics Circle award, as well as Oscar, Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice, and Independent Spirit nominations in the Best Actress category.
Bening also starred in the critically acclaimed film American Beauty, for which she won two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a BAFTA Award, and received both an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. For her role in Being Julia, Bening won the Golden Globe and the National Board of Review Award and received an Oscar and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Her other film credits include Danny Collins, The Search, The Face Of Love, Girl Most Likely, Ginger & Rosa, Ruby Sparks, Mother And Child, The Women, Running With Scissors (Golden Globe nomination), Mrs. Harris (Golden Globe, Emmy, Screen Actors Guild nominations), In Dreams, The Siege, The American President (Golden Globe nomination), Mars Attacks!, Richard Iii, Love Affair, Bugsy (Golden Globe nomination), Regarding Henry, The Grifters (Oscar nomination), GUILTY BY SUSPICION, VALMONT, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, and THE GREAT OUTDOORS.
Bening has been honored at the Deauville, Boston, Palm Springs and Chicago Film Festivals with Lifetime Achievement Awards, as well as receiving the Donostia Prize at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.
She was last seen on stage in Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of 'King Lear' in summer of 2014. Her additional theater credits include 'Ruth Draper Monologues' at the Geffen Playhouse, Anton Chekhov's 'The Cherry Orchard' at the Mark Taper Forum, Alan Bennett's 'Talking Heads' at the Tiffany Theater, Henrik Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler' at Geffen Playhouse, and 'Medea' at UCLA.
Bening received both a Tony Award nomination and won the Clarence Derwent Award for Outstanding Debut Performance of the Season for her role in 'Coastal Disturbances.' She graduated from San Francisco State University and was accepted by the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where she trained until she joined The Acting Company.
While still a teenager, Jamie Bell shot to worldwide fame starring in the title role of Stephen Daldry's Billy Elliot. Among the many honors he received for his performance were the BAFTA Award for Best Actor, and the British Independent Film Award for Best Newcomer. He went onto portray Charles Dickens' memorable character Smike in writer/director Douglas McGrath's screen adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, for which he and his colleagues shared the National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble.
His subsequent films include David Gordon Green's Undertow; Thomas Vinterberg's Dear Wendy; Peter Jackson's epic King Kong and Clint Eastwood's acclaimed Flags of Our Fathers, in which he portrayed real-life WWII hero Ralph Ignatowski. His other films include David Mackenzie's Hallam Foe (a.k.a. Mister Foe), for which he earned a British Independent Film Award nomination, and a BAFTA (Scotland) Award, for Best Actor; Arie Posin's The Chumscrubber; Doug Liman's Jumper; and Edward Zwick's Defiance.
He went onto star in Kevin Macdonald's The Eagle, Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre and Carl Tibbetts' The Retreat.
He played the titular role in Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, as Hergé's legendary young adventurer in the motion-capture production filmed in 3-D. He went on to star in Asger Leth's Man on a Ledge, John Baird's Filth, Snowpiercer with acclaimed Korean director Joon-Ho Bong, Josh Trank's Fantastic 4 & Toa Fraser's 6 Days.
He recently completed work AMC's Turn, in which he played the lead role of Abe Woodhull, which was his first foray into American Television.
Julie Walters CBE is an English actress and writer. She has won two BAFTA Film Awards, a Golden Globe Award, four BAFTA TV Awards and received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2014.
She was also awarded British Actress of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards 2001.
Among her most famous film roles are Educating Rita, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Buster, Mamma Mia! and Billy Elliot. She also played Molly Weasley in seven of the Harry Potter films.
Kenneth Cranham is a prolific Scottish-born film, television, radio and stage actor. He trained at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and RADA, and since graduating his career has spanned over 40 years.
Highlights include his time in the title role in the popular 1980s comedy drama Shine on Harvey Moon. He also appeared in acclaimed feature films including Layer Cake, Gangster No. 1, Rome, and Oliver!. His many stage credits include being a leading actor at the Royal Court Theatre between 1965-81, West End productions of 'Entertaining Mr Sloane', 'Loot', 'An Inspector Calls' (both transferring to Broadway), 'The Ruffian on the Stair', 'The Birthday Party' and 'Gaslight' (at the Old Vic). Recently, he has been heard on BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play series as DS Max Matthews in the three-play series The Interrogation by Roy Williams and starred as Thomas Gradgrind in BBC Radio's 2007 adaptation of Dickens' Hard Times narrated and performed his own selection of Kipling's Barrack Room Ballads. For his role as Inspector Goole in 'An Inspector Calls', he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.
He won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Andre in Florian Zeller's 'The Father' a role that also saw him win the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards Best Actor award. The play received a five-star review from every leading national press publication.
Vanessa's many stage credits include 'Richard III' at Almeida Theatre; 'The Year of Magical Thinking' (Broadway); 'The Revisionist' (Broadway), 'The Cherry Orchard' and 'Not About Nightingales' at The National Theatre; 'The Aspern Papers' (Olivier Award for Best Actress), 'Lady Windermere's Fan', 'Daniel Deronda', 'The Threepenny Opera', 'Design for Living' and 'The Lady from the Sea' in the West End; 'Driving Miss Daisy', 'Long Day's Journey into Night' (Tony Award for Best Actress) and 'Vita and Virginia' on Broadway; 'The Tempest', 'As You Like It' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' for the RSC; and 'Much Ado About Nothing' at the Old Vic.
Notable film appearances include Coriolanus with Ralph Fiennes, Evening, Venus, Howard's End, Mrs Dalloway, Atonement, The Whistleblower, A Man for All Seasons and Camelot.
Her television appearances include Nip/Tuck, The Day of the Triffids and Call the Midwife.
She is a six-time Oscar nominee and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Julia. During her career Vanessa has also won the Emmy, BAFTA, Cannes, Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild awards. Vanessa received the 2010 BAFTA Fellowship, is a 2003 American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee and was made a CBE in 1967.
Stephen Graham has enjoyed continued success following his critically acclaimed performance in the BAFTA best picture winner This is England, directed by Shane Meadows, together with the recent follow up Channel 4 mini-series: This is England '86, '88 and '90, which also secured him a TV BAFTA nomination. Other notable credits include Jimmy McGovern's The Street, in which he received an RTS award nomination, McGovern's Accused opposite Sean Bean, as well as HBO's Parade's End with Benedict Cumberbatch.
Graham is also known for playing the iconic role of Al Capone opposite Steve Buscemi in Martin Scorsese's Boardwalk Empire for HBO, which ran for five seasons. His most recent television credits include the BBC's The Secret Agent and Taboo alongside Tom Hardy.
His film credits include his portrayal of Baby Face Nelson opposite Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in Public Enemies, The Fields opposite Sam Worthington, London Boulevard opposite Keira Knightley and Colin Farrell, Season of the Witch opposite Nicolas Cage, Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opposite Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Hyena, Get Santa, A Patch Of Fog, Pirates Of The Caribbean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales and HHHH directed by Cédric Jimenez.
Born in Bellshill, Scotland, Paul McGuigan has demonstrated a particularly strong talent for handling crime and drama narratives. He began his occupational life as a still photographer before working his way into the documentary field, helming nonfiction assignments for Channel 4 and the BBC. His foray into fiction work commenced with his short The Granton Star Cause an adaptation of one of Irvine Welsh's short stories. The film gained critical acclaim and inspired Paul to helm two additional self-contained episodes, also adapted from the work of Welsh and stitched together as a well-received omnibus called The Acid House. Paul's early fiction laid the groundwork for his move into features on a full-time basis, starting with the inventive crime sagas Gangster No. 1 and Lucky Number Slevin.
He followed these with the medieval film The Reckoning, the eerie, atmospheric romantic mystery Wicker Park, and Victor Frankenstein, starring James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe.
In recent years, Paul has encountered great success as the director of a number of television programmes, including the critically acclaimed Sherlock series which earned him a BAFTA and Emmy nomination.
Barbara Broccoli is producer of the James Bond film series with her brother Michael G Wilson. Broccoli became associate producer with Tom Pevsner on The Living Daylights and Licence To Kill. Together with Wilson, she has produced the last eight Bond films including, Skyfall and Spectre. Through her independent production company, Astoria Productions, Broccoli produced Crime Of The Century for HBO, Starring Stephen Rea and Isabella Rossellini, and directed by Mark Rydell. Broccoli and Wilson have executive produced several independent film projects including: The Silent Storm, starring Damien Lewis and Andrea Riseborough, directed by Corinna McFarlane, NANCY, starring Andrea Riseborough, J. Smith-Cameron, Ann Dowd, John Leguizamo, and Steve Buscemi, directed by Christina Choe, and Radiator starring Richard Johnson, Gemma Jones and Daniel Cerqueira directed by Tom Browne.
Broccoli has co-produced a number of stage productions including 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' (2002 West End, 2005 Broadway), 'A Steady Rain' (2009 Broadway), 'Chariots Of Fire' (2012 West End), 'Once' (2012 Broadway, 2013 West End) 'Strangers On A Train' (2013 West End), 'Love Letters' (2014 Broadway), 'Othello' (New York Theatre Workshop December 2016 – January 2017), and 'The Kid Stays In The Picture' (March 2017 London).
In April 2016, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts appointed Broccoli Vice President for Film. She is President of the National Youth Theatre, a Trustee of Into Film, a film education charity working with young people aged 5-19, and she is a patron of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund. In 2014, Broccoli and Wilson were honoured by the Producers' Guild of American with the David O Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures.
Vaines made his debut as a producer in 1992 with the Emmy-winning TV film A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia, which introduced Ralph Fiennes in the title role. He was co-executive producer of Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, and executive in charge of production on Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain.
He was also an executive producer of Anthony Minghella's Breaking and Entering, starring Jude Law, and Chris Noonan's Miss Potter, starring Renée Zellweger. He has developed and overseen production on numerous projects for The Weinstein Company, including The Reader, Factory Girl and Minghella's final film for television, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
He was executive producer on The Young Victoria, The Rum Diary, starring Johnny Depp, and London Boulevard, the directing debut of Oscar-winning writer William Monahan, starring Keira Knightley and Colin Farrell.
Vaines produced Coriolanus, which marked the directing debut of its star, Ralph Fiennes. He was co-producer of WE, from Madonna, which stars Abbie Cornish, Andrea Riseborough, Oscar Isaac, and James D'Arcy. He was a co-executive producer of My Week With Marilyn, starring Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh, both of whom were Oscar-nominated for their performances. In 2015, he produced The Marriage of Reason and Squalor, directed by Turner-nominated artist Jake Chapman, and starring Rhys Ifans and Sophie Kennedy Clark.
He is an executive producer of Red Dog: True Blue, the prequel to the hugely successful Australian movie Red Dog.
Peter Turner, the youngest of nine children, was born in Toxteth, Liverpool, in 1952 and was educated at St, Clements School, Tiber Street School, and Ruffwood comprehensive school.
In 1968 he auditioned for and became a member of the National Youth Theatre where he was spotted by the legendary film casting director Miriam Brickman and his first film role was in the feature That'll be the Day starring his fellow Liverpudlian Ringo Starr. Other films include Who Dares Wins, Harry in The Comeback, and Trinculo in Derek Jarman's film version of The Tempest.
His theatre credits include roles in 'Tamburlaine the Great', and 'The Government Inspector' at The Glasgow Citizens Theatre, Alan Strang in 'Equus' and Romeo in 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Crucible theatre, Sheffield, the Nurse in 'Having a Ball' at The Liverpool Playhouse, and various productions in London theatres including The Cochrane Theatre, The Roundhouse, The Shaw Theatre, The Collegiate theatre, and several fringe theatres.
His first major television role was the lead male character opposite Lesley- Ann Down in John Bowen's adaptation of The Snow Queen for the BBC and also Harry in Zigger Zagger. From 1978 to 1981 he played one of the leading characters in the television series Spearhead.
His memoir Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool was first published in hardback by Chatto and Windus in 1986 and then in paperback by Penguin books in 1988. It was published in the USA by Grove Press and has been translated into Swedish and French.
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool with an Afterword, 'Since Then' has now been re-published in the United Kingdom and The British Commonwealth by Pan Macmillan and discussions are in place for a re-publication in the USA and several translations. He also directed a series of film profiles of actresses from the silent screen called I Used To Be in Pictures for Eon Productions and the play 'Smoking with Lulu' for the London fringe.
In 2005 Matt wrote the single film Legless for Red/Channel 4 and 2007 saw the start of Matt's prosperous film career with the release of the award winning Control, a biopic of Joy Division's front man Ian Curtis. Control was nominated for Best Screenplay and was the winner of 'Best British Independent Film', amongst others, at the British Independent Film Awards. Matt was also the winner of the 'Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer' at the BAFTAs in 2008. Additional awards include the 'Silver Hugo Awards for Best Screenplay' at Chicago International Film Festival.
Matt's second feature film was Nowhere Boy, a chronicle of young John Lennon's early years, starring Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff, which closed the London Film Festival in 2009. Nowhere Boy also received multiple nominations such as 'Best Screenplay' at the BIFA's in 2009 and 'Outstanding British Film' at the BAFTA's in 2010.
Matt has written and directed two short films, Acid Burn starring Agyness Dean and Matthew Beard, and Supermarket Girl starring Matthew Beard and Nichola Burley. Matt went on to write the feature The Look of Love for Revolution Films, the story of London porn baron turned property millionaire Paul Raymond starring Steve Coogan and Anna Friel.
Matt is currently developing a number of feature and television projects.
Jany Temime won a Costume Designers Guild Award for 'Excellence in Contemporary Film' for Skyfall. She designed the costumes for the Harry Potter films Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, for which she received a Costume Designers Guild Award nomination; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; and the two-part Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, for which she won a Costume Designers Guild Award for Part II.
Temime worked on Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, and served as the costume designer on the action adventure Wrath of the Titans starring Sam Worthington and more recently Brett Ratner's Hercules.
Her recent credits also include Martin McDonagh's In Bruges, starring Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson; Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, starring Clive Owen; Agnieszka Holland's Copying Beethoven, starring Ed Harris; and Beeban Kidron's Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, starring Renée Zellweger and most recently Brett Ratner's Hercules.
She earned a British Independent Film Award nomination for her costume designs for High Heels and Low Lifes, starring Minnie Driver. She had earlier won a BAFTA Cymru Award for her work on Marc Evans' House of America, and the 1995 Utrecht Film Festival's Golden Calf for Best Costume Design for Marleen Gorris' Oscar®-winning Antonia's Line.
Her additional credits encompass more than 40 international motion picture and television projects, including Werner Herzog's Invincible; Todd Komarnicki's Resistance; Marleen Gorris' The Luzhin Defense; Paul McGuigan's Gangster No. 1; Edward Thomas's Rancid Aluminum; Mike van Diem's The Character, which won an Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film; Danny Deprez's The Ball; George Sluizer's The Commissioner and Crimetime; Ate de Jong's All Men Are Mortal; and Frans Weisz's The Last Call.
As a hair and make-up artist in both film and theatre, Naomi has been a leading name in her profession for years. She has divided her time between Britain and America, and worked with such stars as Daniel Day Lewis, Judi Dench, Ben Stiller and Helen Mirren among many others.
Her film credits include Chocolat (BAFTA nomination), Zoolander, The Royal Tenenbaums (Hollywood Guild Award), The Crucible, Quantum Of Solace, Salmon Fishing In The Yemen, Skyfall, Philomena, Spectre and Cinderella. Her theatre work both on Broadway and the West End includes 'Mary Poppins', 'Shrek The Musical', 'Starlight Express', 'Tarzan' and 'Nine'. She has been honored by New York Women in Film.
Nick began his career editing television news before moving into documentary films. After ten years working on television projects and short films he cut his first feature film, Cherrybomb, directed by Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn and starring Rupert Grint.
Nick subsequently collaborated again with Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn and cut Good Vibrations, which was BAFTA nominated for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. In 2013, Nick edited David Mackenzie's critically acclaimed feature Starred Up for which he received an Irish Film & TV Award nomination for Best Editing. Nick cut The Hallow in 2014 for director Corin Hardy, which was part of the Sundance Film Festival Official selection and was nominated for a BIFA in 2015. Nick then returned to documentaries with Oscar winning director Kevin MacDonald's latest film about the acclaimed artist Cai Guo-Qiang Sky Ladder: The Art Of Cai Guo-Quiang, which screened at Sundance 2016.
Nick edited I Am Not A Serial Killer, directed by Billy O'Brien and starring Christopher Lloyd, which premiered at SXSW 2016, as well as Lady Macbeth, directed by William Oldroyd and starring Florence Pugh for BFI and also Daphne for Peter Mackie Burns and produced by the Bureau.
Debbie is one of the UK's leading Casting Directors. Debbie has cast some of the most successful films in recent years including all the latest Bond movies, Spectre, Skyfall , Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale. Her first Bond film was For Your Eyes Only. Her other credits include feature films Billionaire Ransom, Tiger Raid, The Silent Storm, Stratton, The Foreigner, and over the years, Angels and Demons, An American Werewolf in London, My Beautiful Launderette and Caravaggio and Borgia and One Child for TV. Debbie is currently a committee member of the Casting Directors Guild, a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and the Spokesperson for the International Casting Directors' Network.
Eve Stewart has received Academy Award nominations for her work with The Danish Girl for director Tom Hooper, the Best Picture Academy Award winner The King's Speech, for which she won an Art Directors Guild Award; and the Best Picture Academy Award nominee Les Misérables, for which she won a BAFTA Award and Topsy-Turvy.
She has also earned much acclaim for the miniseries Elizabeth I, for which she received an Emmy Award, and the feature The Damned United, as well as her work with writer/director Mike Leigh, including Vera Drake, All or Nothing and Career Girls. Earlier in her career, she was art director on Leigh's award-winning Secrets & Lies and Naked.
Her many other features as production designer include Nigel Cole's hit comedy Saving Grace, starring Brenda Blethyn and Craig Ferguson; Nick Hamm's The Hole, starring Keira Knightley and Thora Birch; Douglas McGrath's Nicholas Nickleby; Paul Morrison's Wondrous Oblivion; Irwin Winkler's De-Lovely, for which she received a Satellite Award; Guy Ritchie's Revolver; Julian Jarrold's Becoming Jane; Jake Paltrow's The Good Night; Nick Moore's Wild Child; Kari Skogland's Fifty Dead Men Walking, for which she received a Genie Award; Nick Love's Goodbye Charlie Bright and The Firm; Julie Gavras' Late Bloomers; James Bobin's Muppets Most Wanted; and Paul McGuigan's Victor Frankenstein, starring Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy.
Ula's first feature film Weekend premiered at SWSX in March 2011 and became an instant hit, scooping the Audience Award at the festival. By the end of that year the film picked up over 20 international awards, including two BIFAS and two Nominations at the London Critics' Circle Awards. It also appeared in many critics Best of 2011 lists, including The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Telegraph, The Independent, Film Comment, Sight and Sound, Indiewire, Salon, Slate Magazine and AV Club.
Since then Ula has gone from strength to strength, winning the Sundance Cinematography Award in 2014 for her second feature Lilting, which was Hong Khou's directorial debut feature. As well as features, Ula has worked with some of the finest writers and directors in television drama. She has helped to tell bold and innovative stories, including 2012's Run for Channel 4, written by Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith and directed by Charles Martin; 2014's Glue, written by Jack Thorne for E4, directed by Daniel Nettheim and Ollie Blackburn, and Game, directed by Niall MacCormick.
She has also shot the eerily plausible sci-fi Humans, directed by Sam Donovan, which won Channel 4 their highest viewing figures for an original drama in more than a decade. Second Coming, Ula's recent feature work starring Idris Elba and Nadine Marshall, and directed by Debbie Tucker Green, again won praise. In 2015 in recognition of her work Ula was invited to join the British Society of Cinematographers. Ula has more recently shot the first season of Marcella, directed by Charles Martin.
"Annette Bening is excellent as Gloria Grahame: imperious, vulnerable, romantic, sexually excited about her younger man, wanly aware of secrets she cannot share with him. Jamie Bell and Annette Bening are tremendous. There is a great spark between them."
"Annette Bening has turned in another thorough, magnetic performance."
"Jamie Bell is absolutely riveting."
"Annette Bening is incredible. Jamie Bell might be the film's secret weapon."
"A surprisingly touching story of unlikely love. Bening is sensational. Bell does perhaps his finest work."
"One of the year's best films."
