It’s showtime! GAME OF THRONES STAR LENA HEADEY HAS CAMEO ROLE IN LOCALLY-FILMED MOVIE – WALK LIKE A PANTHER – WHICH HITS THE BIG SCREEN TODAY
CINEMAS in Huddersfield have announced show times for locallyfilmed Walk Like a Panther.
The film, about a group of 1980s wrestlers who don the lycra one last time to save their beloved pub from closure, is directed by Meltham’s Dan Cadan and puts his hometown centre stage.
It stars Stephen Graham, Jill Halfpenny, Sue Johnston and Stephen Tompkinson – plus Dan managed to sign up his partner, Game of Thrones’ Huddersfield-born star Lena Headey, for a cameo in the film.
Huddersfield Odeon will show the film today at 12.15pm, 2.50pm, 5.30pm and 8.15pm. It runs at the same times all weekend. From Monday, March 12, there are two audio described screenings daily at 12.15 and 2.50pm.
The Showcase Cinema in Birstall will show it five times on Friday, at 12pm, 2.30pm, 5.10pm, 7.50pm and 10.25pm.
Director Dan Cadan said he wanted to highlight pub closures across the country with the wrestling-themed film, which used Huddersfield Town Hall, brewery Magic Rock and the village streets of Marsden as a location.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels film maker Dan Cadan initially intended for it to be a TV show before being convinced it was worthy of the big screen.
Speaking at the film’s premiere in Manchester on Tuesday night, Cadan told the Press Association: “To be honest halfway through shooting the short version Steve Graham kept coming up to me going ‘no Dan this is a movie all day long mate.’
“And I didn’t think there was [a movie] because I didn’t know what the hook was ... we had a band of wrestlers getting up to antics each day but where’s the hook?
“And the hook ended up being pub closures and highlighting that plight.”
The film follows a retired group of wrestlers putting on one last show to save a Yorkshire pub from closing.
Graham is joined in the film by Cadan’s wife and Game of Thrones star Lena Headey, I, Daniel Blake actor Dave Johns, soap star Jill Halfpenny and The Killing Fields’ Julian Sands.
Cadan praised the ensemble cast’s work rate and joked Tom Cruise should “watch out” for 62-year-old Johns.
He said: “Those guys were unbelievable. They gave everything but they wanted to as well. I know deep down that one of them didn’t want to look as bad as the other one which is why they gave their all.”
Lena Headey, who grew up in Shelley, has a small cameo in the wrestling-themed comedy and revealed she was a “pretty big wrestling fan” as a youngster.