Actress took on massive challenge for new film role

When Sheila Hancock was offered the lead role in a film about a pensioner who wanted to scale one of Scotland’s most remote mountains, she never imagined she would be expected to climb the peak herself aged 83.

But during filming in Lochinver, Sutherland, Sheila not only scrambled to the top of Suilven, she cycled, rowed and joined the rest of the cast and crew camping on the hillside for several nights.

Now, as she prepares for Edie to premiere at the Edinburgh International Fi lm Festival , she says she loved every second of the adventure.

And the Bafta award nominee hopes other pensioners will be inspired by the film.

Sheila, 84, said: “It was tough but it was wonderful to be doing that at my age – and exhilarating.

“It livens you up. Old people have low expectations of themselves.

“You are told, ‘ Be careful you don’t fall’, or asked, ‘Are you a bit giddy?’ - all those things. But this was an extraordinary experience.

“It’s also a huge change for old people to see someone portraying age as lively and exciting.”

Poignant drama Edie tells the story of “a gruff old woman” who sets out on an adventure as she tries to capture a little of the magic she felt as a young girl.

In the wake of her husband’s death, as her daughter makes plans for her to move into a retirement home, Hancock’s character decides to take a trip on her own to the Highlands to live out a 30-year dream of climbing a mountain.

Sheila, who was married for 28 years to actor John Thaw who died in 2002, says she fell in love with the story before realising how physical a role it was .

She said: “I thought to begin with, ‘ Well, I won’t actually have to climb a mountain.’ Then I went for a lunch, and met the director