I thought I’d done it all.. until I found myself chapping strangers’ doors in Liverpool with Annette Bening
A Scots film-maker took his leading lady on a pilgrimage to the real locations behind the story of their new movie
HE HELPED launch the new Sherlock, turned James McAvoy into Frankenstein and put Kiefer Sutherland in the White House.
In two decades of working with some of the biggest names in cinema, Scottish director Paul McGuigan thought he’d probably seen and done it all.
Then he found himself chapping doors in Liverpool with Hollywood royalty Annette Bening and Barbara Broccoli, the producer of the James Bond films.
The unlikely doorstep challenge came about when Bellshill born director McGuigan took four-time Oscar nominee Bening around Merseyside in preparation for their new movie, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool.
The film details the true story romance which blossomed in 1978 between Hollywood golden age icon Gloria Grahame and actor Peter Turner, 29 years her junior.
McGuigan, Broccoli and Bening, who plays Grahame, undertook extensive research to tell the story of the half-Scottish actress’s unlikely love affair.
It included a visit to Liverpool with Turner, now 65, whose book about his romance with Grahame inspired the film. He took American Beauty star Bening, who is married to Hollywood legend Warren Beatty, to see his family home – to the bemusement of a student now living there.
Daughter of Scottish actress Jean Grahame (played by Vanessa Redgrave in the film), Gloria appeared in movies including The Big Heat, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Greatest Show on Earth and Oklahoma! – and won a best supporting actress Oscar for The Bad and the Beautiful in 1953.
She met Turner – played by Jamie Bell in the film – when she was acting on stage in London and they stayed in the same theatrical boarding house.
Their relationship broke up but in
1981, when Turner discovered his former love had been admitted to hospital in Lancaster, he rushed to her side – and found her dying of cancer.
He took her back to his family home in Liverpool where his mother, played by Julie Walters in the film, cared for her during her final days.
It was that home where McGuigan and his team went on their trip to Liverpool.
The director said: “We took Annette up to Liverpool and myself, Barbara and Peter Turner all went there and we chapped on the door of his old house.
“It was answered by this young student woman and she was amazed when we just turned up on her doorstep and asked to see her bedroom.
“I don’t think she realised what was going on and was very nice. It was great for us to look around and see the house – for Peter it was very emotional.
“We then all went to his local pub and the playhouse where he performed and got a feel for the streets.
“It was really great how into it Annette was.
“She and Warren knew Gloria a little bit so everyone wanted to protect the truth. This isn’t a biography, it’s a love story between two people.”
Paul said he knew of Grahame before making the film but didn’t know anything about her life.
He said: “I realised I did know her work even if I didn’t know her and when I read the book and the script, I was very excited.
“The mum was quite a showbiz mum, pushing her two girls. She was proud of her Scottish heritage.
“I think a lot of the attraction of Peter for Gloria was the family thing she craved because her own was so dysfunctional.
“When she got to Peter’s house, she saw the very close working-class family.”
The project went ahead very quickly after he connected with Barbara Broccoli, Paul said.
He explained: “I’d met Barbara before and she was a fan of my work – she is the kind of woman who doesn’t mess around.
“She has instincts about people and projects and it all went quite quickly from then. We met Jamie Bell in LA and it all happened fast. ”When I heard Annette’s Hollywood drawl and Jamie’s Liverpool accent together, that cemented for me how it would work.” Paul, 54, began his career in stills photography and documentary work before moving into features with the Irvine Welsh adaptation anthology The Acid House. Along with writer Steven Moffat, he launched the super stylish Sherlock update starring Benedict Cumberbatch. As well as working on highprofile films, such as James McAvoy/Daniel Radcliffe monster movie Victor Frankenstein, Paul has become the go-to guy for any studio launching a big TV series. His pilot credits include Marvel smash Luke Cage on Netflix, long- running political show Scandal, US hit Devious Maids, Kiefer Sutherland’s White House series Designated Survivor, Broadway serial Smash, and ABC drama The Family. “My main thing when I started doing television was Sherlock,” he said. “I treated it like a movie so everyone said it was quite cinematic and then you get the reputation as the guy who can do that on a TV budget.
“I like working with great scripts and great actors and what I like about doing pilots is you set the style and the visual language of a show.”
After launching Sherlock, Paul’s next move could involve another British fictional icon – James Bond.
He admits he’s discussed the possibility with Broccoli, who is best known as the producer of the 007 films.
He added: “I’d love to do one in the future but it’s not my time just yet. For every director, it’s a great challenge of how you would approach it.”
Paul thinks there are some great choices out there for Daniel Craig’s successor as Bond, including a few he has worked with in the past.
He said: “I think Jamie Bell’s got a shot for it, I think James McAvoy definitely, and I love Idris Elba as well. And a female James Bond – why not? I’ve worked with some amazing actresses.” Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool (15) is in cinemas this Thursday.
I realised I did know her work and when I read the script, I was very excited PAUL McGUIGAN