STARS COME OUT FOR CLARICE
Film-makers reveal cast of blockbuster movie about city ceramicist’s life
BRIDGERTON star Phoebe Dynevor is to take on the role of acclaimed ceramicist Clarice Cliff for a new film being shot in Stokeon-trent.
The actress – who has become a household name after the release of the Netflix original drama this year – will play the lead part in The Colour Room.
The film charts the rise to fame of Tunstall-born potter Clarice – a determined working-class woman in the 1920s who broke the glass ceiling and revolutionised the workplace in the 20th Century, while becoming one of the greatest Art Deco designers.
The cast also includes Matthew Goode (The Imitation Game), David Morrissey (The Walking Dead), Darci Shaw (Judy), Kerry Fox (Rare Beasts) and Luke Norris (Poldark).
The Colour Room – directed by Claire Mccarthy and written by Claire Peate – will start production later this month in Stoke-on-trent and Birmingham and will be released in cinemas and on Sky Cinema later this year.
The news has been announced as a search for extras continues.
Locations of where filming will take place in Stoke-on-trent have not yet been released.
Phoebe – daughter of Coronation Street actress Sally Dynevor (Sally Webster) – said: “I am so excited to be joining the cast, especially in the role as one of the nation’s most celebrated artists, Clarice Cliff.
“It’s truly such an honour to take on such a remarkable character. The script is a beautifully written contemporary take on the 20th Century, and I feel proud to be working with such a strong female team, both in front and behind the camera.
“I look forward to telling Clarice’s story and of course working with Matthew too.”
Sarah Wright, director of Sky Cinema and acquisitions at Sky UK and Ireland, said: “Clarice Cliff is one of the most iconic artists of the 20th Century – a female pioneer who broke the mould in the English pottery industry in the 1920s.
“I can’t wait to start this allbritish production and bring her incredible true story to life.
“This film will provide a fresh take on Clarice’s professional and personal life. It is apt – and I’m hugely proud – that this film is written, directed and produced by an all-female team.”
The film is produced by Thembisa Cochrane and Georgie Paget for Caspian Films, in association with Denaire Motion Picture Poetry and co-producer Neil Jones.
Writer Claire Peate, winner of new writing competition BAFTA Rocliffe in 2016, added: “The story was inspired by a single image; a young factory worker leaving her grim, industrial reality behind her and stepping into the rainbow of the Colour Room – a world of joy and possibility.
“It was thanks to the script winning at BAFTA Rocliffe that it was picked up and performed on stage, and
I’m thrilled to now be working with Phoebe and Matthew in bringing
The Colour Room to life.”