Starring role for town in new film
MACCLESFIELD has bagged the starring role in a new blockbuster movie.
Thriller The Messenger will feature model Lily Cole, Hollywood star Joely Richardson and up-andcoming British actors Robert Sheehan and Jack Fox.
And the majority of the feature has been shot around Macclesfield, with scenes also filmed in Manchester and Buxton.
The cast have been filming for the last three weeks and the production is due to wrap next week, with a cinema release pencilled in for next spring.
Producer Terry Stone, who has also appeared as an actor in a number of films including Anuvahood and Get Lucky, said: “When choosing locations its all about what the script demands, and Macclesfield just fit perfectly – its locations were exactly what we needed, they had everything.
“It’s been great filming in the area, everyone has been so friendly and helpful and things have gone really well.”
The Messenger is written by Andrew Kirk and directed by double BAFTA and Emmy award-winning director David Blair.
It tells the story of Jack, a young man visited by dead people who still have unfinished business in the living world.
Everyone thinks Jack is unhinged, but after becoming embroiled with deceased Mark – a journalist brutally murdered in his local park – he finds himself finally coming to terms with his ghostly visitations.
Robert Sheehan, who plays Jack and has been staying in Shrigley Hall while filming, said: “You’re never sure whether Jack really does see dead people - it could all be psychological. He is being hounded by these people, or is he? It is a constant red herring.
“It’s been interesting to play Jack, getting that ambiguity right. It does follow traditions of some films - Sixth Sense, Ghost - but it is more a thriller, getting inside the mind of someone who has gone through a very traumatic experience.
“It has been great filming up here, the town is lovely and everyone has made us so welcome.
“All the cast and crew are staying around Macclesfield and couldn’t be happier.”