Gloria was a fine actress and had this unique quality, there was no one like her

film (he plays Peter’s brother Joe Turner Jnr), who’s known for playing dangerous, tough characters, and he was reduced to a schoolboy (upon meeting Dame Julie), he was so nervous and excited,” Bell says. “And that’s what she has; she’s a national treasure.”

It’s a term that’s also been used to refer to American star Bening, who first spoke to the film’s executive producer, legendary Bond boss Barbara Broccoli, about the role 20 years ago.

But the Kansas-born actress, famous for pushing boundaries in films such as American Beauty, was too young to take on the role at the time.

“The fact that Barbara and I talked about it many, many years ago enriches the part,” she discloses. “Because even if you are not sitting around thinking about it every day, it goes into your unconscious and it percolates. It certainly did with me.”

Off-screen, Bening has been married to US actor and film-maker Warren Beatty since 1992, and is no stranger to an age gap in a relationship.

“There’s quite a lot of people who are attracted to younger people, a lot of men; my husband’s 20 years older than I am,” she says animatedly. real people. But Bening insists she didn’t want to do any “imitation” of Gloria; instead, she watched the star’s work a lot, and “tried to absorb a sense of her”.

“She was a fine actress and she had this absolute unique quality about her; there was no one quite like her,” Bening says.

Grahame, who starred in 1950 thriller In A Lonely Place, opposite Humphrey Bogart, later fell on hard times, and ended up working in smaller-scale theatre productions in the UK.

The film also depicts many touching moments between the couple; most memorably, perhaps, when Gloria invites Peter to practise disco moves with her.

For Bell, who won a Bafta for Billy Elliot, the scene was an opportunity to show off his dance skills again. “I choreographed it myself,” he reveals. “I just looked up a bunch of Saturday Night Fever clips on YouTube.”

Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is in cinemas now