Oftentimes you find love where you least expect it

Oftentimes you find love where you least expect it.  Sometimes it takes you where you never expected to go…

When Louisa Clark—Lou, as she’s known—unexpectedly loses her waitressing job she must scramble to replace the income that her tight-knit family depends upon. Desperation drives her to take a job as a caregiver to Will Traynor, a man who used to be a wealthy banker with an adventurous soul, living life to the very fullest, but for whom those days are in the past. After a tragic accident, Will lost the desire to live and now keeps everyone at a distance with his caustic, overbearing attitude. But unlike his family, Lou refuses to tiptoe around him or cater to his moods. In fact, her sparkling personality and easy nature are hard for even Will to ignore, and soon enough each becomes exactly what the other needs.

The film also stars Oscar nominee Janet McTeer (“Albert Nobbs,” “Tumbleweeds”), Charles Dance, Brendan Coyle, Stephen Peacocke, Matthew Lewis, Jenna Coleman, Samantha Spiro, Vanessa Kirby and Ben Lloyd-Hughes.

Sharrock directed from a screenplay by Jojo Moyes, based on her book. The film was produced by Karen Rosenfelt and Alison Owen, and executive produced by Sue Baden-Powell.

The behind-the-scenes creative team included Oscar-nominated director of photography Remi Adefarasin (“Elizabeth”), production designer Andrew McAlpine, editor John Wilson and costume designer Jill Taylor. The music is by composer Craig Armstrong.

“Me Before You” is a presentation of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, and will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment company, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.

https://www.warnerbros.co.uk/movies/me-before-you

“At its most basic, this is a story about the power of love and how it transforms you,” says director Thea Sharrock. “These are two characters who, but for their very different and difficult circumstances, should never have met…but here they are. And that’s where the fairytale begins.”

Lou and Will’s uniquely romantic tale was crafted for the screen by Jojo Moyes, based on her own bestselling novel. “It’s a simple and complicated story all at once,” Sharrock continues. “Both in the script and in her book, Jojo managed to find a way to make the most emotionally difficult situations incredibly accessible through the unfolding of these two characters’ getting to know each other along this transformative journey they take.”

“It’s a bit of a dream for me, the idea that this story is going beyond the book to the screen,” Moyes offers. “Having watched what it’s become through the actors’ performances and Thea’s wonderful direction, I can say that people who see the movie will get the same story and characters, but also get something quite different out of it. Audiences bring their own experiences, hopes and fears, and I think they will truly be taken out of themselves and into Lou and Will’s world.”

Sharrock adds, “Jojo has carried these characters, Lou in particular, with her for a long time, so it was especially important to me that we get it right.”

“Thea is a very respected theater director in the UK, and I had seen her television work—very traditionally British—so when I met her I expected a proper English woman to appear,” recalls producer Karen Rosenfelt, smiling. “Instead, she plopped down in an overstuffed armchair, swung her legs over the side, and over the next hour we had a wide-ranging general discussion about film, theatre, books. We then turned to this project, and it went from there. I loved her humanity, her accessible sophistication, and that she was instantly right at home with me and with the material.”

At one time, Will’s world was all-encompassing; he lived a “no limits” lifestyle. Now, two years on, we find him utterly confined. Betrayed by his own body due to a spinal cord injury, he resides—even he would not say he lives by any definition of the word—at his parents’ countryside home. Lou, on the other hand, has rarely stepped outside this little town, and even stepping into the grand Traynor estate—the “castle,” as it’s called by the locals—is foreign to her. Yet they meet, whether by chance or by fate.

Emilia Clarke, who stars as the wide-eyed, endearing Lou, says, “What drew me to this movie were the words of Jojo Moyes, the book first and then the script. I was hooked on page one and so excited to play a character with such charm and sincerity, who is so authentically and brilliantly British, and with such a lovely arc in her story.”

Sam Claflin, starring alongside her as Will, was equally pulled into the material. “The writing itself was so beautifully done, and the subject matter surrounding this very challenging character was handled so well, it really got me thinking. That was a big draw for me.”

“What resonated with me in Jojo’s novel was the original voice of the characters and the emotional truths,” says Rosenfelt. “I loved how she handled the most complicated and personal issues and how life-affirming the story was. I was absorbed—I read the book in one sitting and immediately visualized the film, and that rarely happens.”

Like Rosenfelt, producer Alison Owen’s interest in the property was longstanding. “I read the book when it came out and I loved it. Jojo creates such fantastic characters and has so much insight into people’s lives and minds, and she writes with incredible empathy,” she says. “So, when Karen called me up and asked me if I would join the production, I was thrilled to do it, because everything about the project appealed to me—the story, Thea, Emilia and Sam. It was very easy to step into.”

“To fall in love with somebody so much that it changes your life immeasurably, and your life will never be the same again, but to then have that moment of recognition that you might not be with that person…it’s intensely emotional,” Sharrock posits. “As a director, it’s a privilege to take actors who are willing to go to those extremes to that place. Our devoted cast and crew, we were all in this together, laughing and crying. It was an incredibly liberating experience.”

—Lou

“When we first meet her, she is working at The Buttered Bun Café, serving tea and scones. She’s very good at it, she loves the clientele, and we see she’s a sweet kind of caring girl who just wants to do well.”

But times are tough and Lou is let go. Knowing her income is as crucial as her skill set is minimal, she tells her local job placement agent that she’ll happily try anything. Her naturally cheery outlook is put to the test, however, when she faces her newest career challenge as caregiver and companion to Will Traynor. A once robust young man, he became wholly dependent on others due to an accident two years prior, and his whole world changed dramatically in the blink of an eye.

Sharrock says, “Lou lives with her parents, her sister, her grandpa and her nephew in a very small house in a very small town. But her mum doesn’t have a job, Granddad doesn’t have a job, and Dad now doesn’t have a job, so her small income is a very big deal. Yet her outlook remains a sunny one.”

To find an actress who could play positive under pressure, the filmmakers cast a wide net. “We saw hundreds of girls, and I had Skyped with Emilia about the role, but I can honestly say that when she walked in to audition and did her first scene, it was literally like Lou Clark was in the room,” Sharrock recalls. “I remember secretly texting Karen Rosenfelt and all I said was, ‘We found her.’ There was no question. Her energy was exactly right; like Lou, she was just a breath of fresh air.”

Clarke had an easy rapport with the first-time feature director. “Thea is just the greatest, I love her. You’d never, ever, know that this was her first film,” she declares. “It’s a testimony to her intelligence, her integrity and her work ethic that working on this project, with its very tricky subject matter, felt almost effortless. She was so giving and always had a smile and a laugh to put us at ease, and that trickled down to everyone. I never felt like I was working.”

When Lou meets Will, she quickly ascertains that he is no longer the audacious adventurer he once was, not only in body, but in spirit. Clarke notes, “Will is a man who has apparently been everywhere, seen everything, done it all, and Lou is the exact opposite. She comes to him with naïveté and sincerity, a way of looking at the world that has escaped him up to this point. She’s unabashedly, unashamedly klutzy and she makes him laugh. He’s forced to see the genuine light that can be found in life through her eyes.”

Though Will has all but given up, Lou becomes determined to show him that life is worth living. But the former “master of the universe,” as Moyes describes him, will be a tough nut to crack, even for the ever optimistic Lou. The writer explains, “They get off to a rocky start.

Will was the kind of guy who liked to throw himself out of airplanes and climb mountains, determined to suck the marrow out of life. But thanks to one really random accident, he now has to be cared for by other people, and he’s decided he just doesn’t want to carry on like this, given what he’s lost.”

Sam Claflin confesses that the physical challenges Will faces were a large part of what made him want to play the character. “I initially had very little understanding of the world Will lives in or the story we’d be telling,” he says. “But this particular character’s journey delves deep into that experience. It opened my eyes.”

To portray Will, the actor would only be permitted movement from the neck up and in one finger and thumb—the result of two years of intense physical therapy. “He’s had the best care, the best medical advice and the best help possible,” he continues. “He doesn’t want help anymore. He’s made up his mind.”

Until, perhaps, he gets to know Lou.

Owens observes, “She’s very different from all the girls he’s ever known. His girlfriends and colleagues have all been very upper class, gorgeous, privileged, whereas Lou is feisty and vivacious and eccentric. He’s never come across anyone like her before.”

“She’s the first person who speaks her mind to him,” Claflin adds. “She’s willing to be his sparring partner, and I think he appreciates her honesty and admires it. She changes him. She sort of opens his eyes and allows him to see the world in a new way, and he, equally, opens her eyes to the world and to what life has to offer outside the little village she lives in. He wants her to spread her wings and fly far.”

Sharrock admired Claflin’s ability to play the many facets of the character. “Will can be an ass, he can be unkind—no two ways about it,” she laughs. “I wanted somebody who had innate warmth, charisma and incredible kindness within him in order for Will’s transformation to feel genuine, and Sam accomplished that with ease.”

Part of Claflin’s transformation to Will included losing weight—a total, he says, of “over three stone” (more than 40 lbs)—because the character’s immobility over two years would have naturally induced muscle loss. But though Will is unable to move his body, his mind is as sharp as ever.

“I had to really become in tune with Will’s brainpower because that is still functioning as well as ever; he’s very bright, very clever. Underneath that, he’s also a sensitive soul—though it might not seem that way at first,” Claflin adds.

Certainly not to Lou, who receives the razor sharp end of Will’s dry wit immediately upon meeting him.

As with any film romance, one of the most critical elements was the chemistry between the romantic leads. “Once we had whittled our candidates down in the casting process, we brought the finalists in to read together,” the director says. “That was the decider. As soon as Sam and Emilia met, the casting director and I looked at each other and knew we’d found the right pair.”

During the rehearsal process, Sharrock says, “The three of us really got to know each other as we talked about who these characters were. And throughout filming, Sam was very generous about finding time to help Emilia prepare for her other scenes, since she’s in nearly all of them. They were very supportive of each other and that shows on the screen.”

“Emilia and I have nearly worked together a few times, but it never worked out for some reason, scheduling, whatever,” Claflin says. “This seemed to be the perfect timing and the perfect project, and she’s quite literally the perfect co-star.”

“Sam is an absolute dreamboat,” Clarke relates. “It was brilliant playing opposite him. He’s the easiest person to work with, he gives so much, and it was just wonderful.”

Of course, Lou is not the only one struggling with Will’s situation and choices in life. His mother, Camilla Traynor, strives to temper her motherly concern with characteristic English self-control, though she’s still coping emotionally with what happened to her son. His father, Stephen Traynor, primarily wants what any parent wants for their child: to live a life that makes them happy. He simply realizes, better than his wife, that Will may have reached his limit on that score. To play the couple, the filmmakers cast veteran stage and screen actress Janet McTeer and distinguished actor and filmmaker Charles Dance.

“The reason I like the story is that it’s multi-facted,” McTeer says. “It’s not just a love story between these two; it’s also about life and the many things that make that interesting. “It’s also very English in terms of it’s about class and how we can all make assumptions about people based on that.

“My character, Camilla, is incredibly posh,” she continues. “And it would be very easy to judge her for that but one of the nice things about the film, as you go through, is you tear off the layers and see these people just as people. At the end of the day, Camilla, who starts out quite scary, is just a mom, but a mom in absolute agony, and her way of coping with that is to be very grown up and rather stiff.”

Lou’s entrance into the Traynor household and the affect her vibrancy has on Will helps soften Camilla’s attitude, just as it does her son’s.

“It’s a substantial, moving story, but there are a lot of laughs along the way,” says Dance. “When Louisa comes in to this not-so-easy setup, she brings a kind of eccentricity with her; she’s a bit wacky. But she also keeps Camilla’s hopes alive that Will will change his mind. My character, however, is past that point and has accepted what his son wants to do and, as much as he hates the idea, will help him do it.”

Dance was eager to take the role in order to collaborate with both Sharrock and McTeer. “Thea has a formidable reputation as a theatre director, and I’ve wanted to work with her. And I adore Janet McTeer, always wanted to work with her, never have done. She’s just theatrical aristocracy, fearsomely, searingly bright and a great talent.”

“Charles and I have circled around each other for years but we’ve never actually worked with each other. He’s probably one of the few actors taller than me, for a start,” McTeer laughs, “and we had a lot of fun. He’s a very charming man.”

Sharrock says that both actors’ performances “are incredibly moving. They managed to capture the shared pain of what the Traynors must be going through…those moments when a parent realizes that what he or she wants is not necessarily the best thing for the child. That sometimes you have to let them do what they think is the best thing for them.”

Though Will was presumably very social at one time, the only mainstay in his life when Lou comes along, apart from his parents, is his nurse/occupational therapist, Nathan. Amidst a solidly British cast, Aussie actor Stephen Peacocke plays the role.

“Nathan functions as Will’s carer, or occupational therapist, or nurse, whatever you want to call it,” Peacocke offers. “But in the scheme of things, he’s probably been with Will the longest out of just about anyone since his accident, and they’ve got a kind of friendship as well. At the end of the day, Nathan’s the bloke that Will can talk to about things.”

To aid both Peacocke and Claflin in preparing for their characters’ interactions, Peacocke says, “We had some lovely occupational therapists come in to help us, Ruth Peachment and Gaynor Willmoth. Someone in Will’s condition can do virtually nothing for himself; the little things we take for granted like scratching your nose, stretching, getting in and out of the chair, are things that Nathan has to do for Will, so there’s a lot of trust that exists between the two lads. The great thing about the script was that, wherever possible, there was a bit of humor in the way these two fellows work together. They can have a joke about things, and Will’s got a pretty sharp wit, so I think Nathan enjoys the experience.”

As Lou begins to crack Will’s hardened exterior, they embark on a series of outings designed by her to show him that his life can exist outside the walls of his home. From a turn about the Traynor castle to a horserace to a black tie concert, each excursion deepens their friendship. Will even agrees to attend her birthday dinner at her family’s humble home, where he meets Patrick, the one individual who is not exactly happy about the obvious camaraderie between Lou and Will.

Matthew Lewis, who plays him, says, “Patrick is Lou’s boyfriend of about seven years, and it’s comfortable, you know? He’s also a personal trainer and is obsessed with fitness. He’s set up his business and he’s won this local entrepreneur of the year award twice, and that’s just spurred him on to get fitter and fitter. Now he’s planning to do this Viking triathlon in Norway as his and Lou’s holiday together. In his mind, and probably hers at one point, they’re going to stay in this town for the rest of their lives, get married, get a house, have kids, and everything’s going to be okay.

“When Will comes into her life,” he continues, “suddenly her eyes are open to the possibilities and opportunities in the world outside of this town…and outside of Patrick.”

Rounding out Lou’s hometown life are Lou’s father, Bernard, played by Brendan Coyle; her mother, Josie, played by Samantha Spiro; her sister and closest confidante, Katrina (aka Treena), played by Jenna Coleman; and the girls’ granddad, played by Alan Breck.

From Will’s former life, we meet Alicia, his one-time girlfriend played by Vanessa Kirby, and Rupert, his former colleague and friend, played by Ben Lloyd-Hughes. And fans of British comedy will enjoy a cameo from “Absolutely Fabulous” star Joanna Lumley, who plays a memorable guest at a wedding Lou attends with Will.

—Lou

The town of Pembroke in Wales stood in for much of the local town where the Traynors live in grandeur in a castle atop the hill, and where the Clarks live in cozy, if far less spectacular, surroundings. Scenes featuring Lou working at The Buttered Bun Café were accomplished there, as were exteriors for Will’s family home, which was actually Pembroke Castle. The castle’s beginnings date back to 1093 and it’s renowned as the birth place of King Henry VII.

As McAlpine recalls, “I knew about Pembroke Castle in Northwest Wales. It’s a rarity in the sense that it is the perfect pile of stone surrounded by a working village. It had everything I wanted to get across in my design for the Traynor home’s larger exteriors and the right contrast with the neighboring area.”

Whytham Abbey, a private manor house in Oxfordshire, represented Grantchester House, the Traynor family home within the castle walls. All of the exteriors immediately around the house and the interior of the main house were shot there and McAlpine created an atmosphere suitable for the reserved, wealthy family.

“Camilla’s a woman of intelligence and sorrow, she’s got good taste and she lives in the real world,” he surmises. “Part of that combination of taste and practicality is seen in the brilliant way she’s converted the stables into an annex for Will, where she hopes her son will have a good life.”

Though the interiors of the house were filmed at the Abbey, the interior annex was built at Pinewood Studios and made to appear as if it flowed directly from the main house. To subtly reflect the turmoil in the family and the home, the designer married the palettes, giving both, he details, “a greenish-gray tone, like the broken edge of a stormy wave.”

The annex has become Will’s entire world, and it is here that he and Lou first meet. McAlpine observes, “Into the annex comes this butterfly called Lou, who dresses in this beautiful, colorful, individual way. So I covered the walls in a soft zinc hue, which gave us a sort of elegant glow. I purposely held back so that every time Lou came in, she’d be a burst of color.”

Everything within his quarters was designed to suit Will’s lifestyle. “The dimensions of the annex were driven by the requirements of a man confined to a wheelchair,” he continues. “I also designed his bed to appear that perhaps Camilla would have got the top London crafters to come up with something that would be as comfortable as possible. And the big picture windows so she could be sure he felt he was still within the playground of his childhood.”

The Clark family home interiors were also created at Pinewood. “When we see Lou’s house, it’s a home with hardships overcome by the warmth of a British working class family proud of their own place in the world,” he adds.

The exterior of the Clark house and street was filmed in Harrow in London. A private home in Esher, Surrey, doubled as the site for Dignitas in Switzerland, and historic Sandown Park in Esher was the location used for a sequence at the horserace, in addition to an airport check-in area. Sandown Park, opened in 1875, still operates today, and was one of the first racecourses in England to charge admission to all who attended.

Chenies Manor House in Buckinghamshire, which dates back to the 12^th century, served as the site for the wedding service and reception that Lou attends with Will. The filmmakers took advantage of its particular beauty, utilizing a wide shot during the post-ceremony cocktail hour to showcase the home’s 22 individually decorated cut-brick chimneys and its exquisite gardens.

Despite the many splendors of the English countryside the story called for, it’s when Lou and Will embark on a romantic holiday that the scenery becomes truly exotic. A portion of the Spanish island of Mallorca stood in for the French island of Mauritius called for in the script. Several scenes were also shot on the grounds of the Barceló Formentor Hotel and along the property’s adjoining beach.

“The place has a great quiet beauty,” McAlpine notes. “And it has a bay, which is similar to areas in Mauritius.” Some of the flora differentiated, however, presenting a challenge. “There’s a form of pine, a very spindly pine, in the Mauritian area, so we planted nearly 600 plants and new lawns around the location to supplement the luscious growth and give it greater accuracy.”
“When I was little my mum got me a pair of glittery wellies and I refused

to take them off…My favorite outfit was the glittery boots and

my bumblebee tights…black and yellow stripes!”

—Lou

In fact, in one scene, Lou tells Will that her boyfriend says a certain pair of her shoes makes her look like “a leprechaun drag queen.” Taylor smiles, noting, “A special piece of clothing is a piece of art to her—she appreciates it.”

Taylor began the job of shopping for Lou by simply looking around. “I started noticing what young girls are putting together in the streets of London,” she relates. “It’s pretty wild, what you find in the shops, and I found a lot of inspiration there.”

Describing the overall process as organic, Taylor says, “I met Emilia, we had a chat, and went out shopping; it was that easy. We pulled racks of stuff for her to try on and, god love her, she did!”

And while Lou’s day-to-day wear consists mainly of brightly colored prints and highly tactile textures—from her fuzzy sweaters to her flowery shoes—there were two pieces that Taylor designed especially for her, for occasions on which her usual fare would not do.

“There’s a scene where she takes Will to a Mozart concert, and the red dress was very important,” Taylor notes. “I did some drawings and had it made, and it looked just beautiful on her. It’s the first time we see Lou looking sophisticated.”

But not the last. “We also made her a dress for the wedding scene. It’s a similar silhouette to the red dress, but with a very different fabric.” A colorful print, of course.

The costumes for Will were much simpler. “The brief for him was that they had to look pretty expensive, but very simple, elegant, luxurious,” Taylor says. “His suit at the beginning of the film, prior to the accident, is Armani. But from there, he’s in a lot of cashmere, soft cottons…easy things to get on and off, which would be important for him.”

He does, however, don a tuxedo for their outing to the concert as required by the occasion, the only sequence in the movie that features classical music.

The remainder of music in “Me Before You” was carefully interspersed with the film’s score, created by composer Craig Armstrong, to evoke the romantic and provocative sensibilities of the story. Among the popular songs that can be heard on the soundtrack are Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and “Photograph,” “Unsteady (Erich Lee Gravity Remix)” from X Ambassadors, “Till The End” from Jessie Ware, and Imagine Dragons’ “Not Today.”

“Craig’s music and the songs we were able to find have a huge impact in the film,” Sharrock says. “They really resonate with what’s happening between Lou and Will at every turn and every stage of their relationship.”

“Lou and Will…Me Before You…to me it basically means ‘who I was before I met you,’” Jojo Moyes reveals. “It refers to how each of them has changed the other. Lou is intimidated by the house, by the class of people she’s dealing with. She’s deeply out of her comfort zone. Will doesn’t want her there, so he’s going to do his best to be annoying and not give her an inch. They start off as two people who never should’ve met, but the more they get to know each other, the more they appreciate each other’s strengths. He realizes that in some ways she’s as trapped as he is—by her own expectations, her own history. Ultimately it’s Will who pushes Lou to look outward, to expect more from life, but he’s only able to do so after she opens his eyes, and his heart.”

Hoping that the film will strike a chord with moviegoers just as the novel did with readers, Emilia Clarke adds, “On a really fundamental level, I would love for people to take away from this movie the joy that life has to offer, the joy that love has to offer. It’s a story that touched people when they read it and all of us as we were making it, so I hope it would touch the people who watch it, as well.”

“The film poses a lot of questions, especially as regards my character,” Sam Claflin states, “and I hope people do talk about it and are willing to learn more. I think I can safely say there are many inspiring stories and many heartbreaking stories of people like Will and Lou, and I think this movie has both and, ultimately, is very uplifting.”

Thea Sharrock concludes, “There’s a lightness to Lou, a lightness of touch and a level of humor that’s very easy to enjoy. And there’s some lovely, unexpected moments between Lou and Will where they really bring out the best in each other. If you go to the theatre to see a simple love story, you’re going to get it, and you’ll have laughs along the way and maybe a cry at the end. And hopefully, if we’ve done justice to Jojo’s story and her fans, the journey will stay with you.”
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About the Cast

Emilia Clarke (Louisa “Lou” Clark) is an undeniably talented actress who has garnered the attention of audiences for her pivotal performances and intriguing beauty.

   Clarke recently received her second Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen or the “Mother of Dragons” on HBO’s award winning series “Game of Thrones,” based on the bestselling novels by George R.R. Martin. She also received Emmy and Critics Choice Television Awards nominations for the role in 2013. The show will return for its sixth season April 2016. 

  Clarke recently wrapped production on “Voice from the Stone,” directed by Eric D. Howell and co-starring Marton Csokas, portraying a nurse who comes to the aid of a boy haunted by a malevolent force in the Italian countryside. 

   Clarke was last seen on the big screen as Sarah Connor in Alan Taylor’s “Terminator: Genisys,” a reboot of the popular franchise, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, and Jai Courtney.  Her other film credits include “Dom Hemingway,” opposite Jude Law and “Spike Island,” directed by Mat Whitecross. 

  In 2013, Clarke made her Broadway debut as Holly Golightly in the stage adaptation of Truman Capote’s classic 1958 novella “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

  After graduating from the Drama Centre London, Clarke began her career with a guest-leading role in the BBC series “Doctors” and a co-leading role in the U.S. made for television movie “Triassic Attack.” Clarke grew up in the Berkshire countryside, and currently resides in London.

2016 will see Claflin star in Lone Scherfig’s “Their Finest Hour and a Half,” starring alongside Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy. The romantic comedy follows a British film crew as they attempt to create a morale boosting film during the Blitz.

Last year saw Claflin star as Finnick Odair for the last time in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.” The final film in the box office phenomenon franchise was released last November and saw Claflin reprise the role he played in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1,” opposite Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson. Last year also saw Claflin film the title role in “Friday,” charting the life of the enigmatic British footballer Robin Friday.

2014 was a huge year for Claflin with a number of projects out in cinemas. He starred in Scherfig’s film “The Riot Club,” based on the London stage play “Posh,” alongside Max Irons, Douglas Booth and Holliday Grainger. The film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, follows students at Oxford University as they join the infamous Riot Club, Also released was “Love, Rosie.” This film version of Cecilia Ahern’s novel Where Rainbows End saw Claflin star with Lily Collins as friends and lovers in this romantic comedy drama set in Dublin and Boston. Earlier in the year Claflin appeared opposite Jarred Harris in Hammer Horror film “The Quiet Ones.”

In 2012, Claflin played the role Prince William alongside Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth in box office hit “Snow White and the Huntsman,” which he recently followed up with a small role in the “The Huntsman: Winter War.” The previous year, Claflin made a name for himself as youthful missionary Philip, the romantic lead in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

Claflin has also starred in a number of outstanding television projects. In 2013, he was seen on screens opposite Hilary Swank in Richard Curtis’ BBC One drama “Mary & Martha,” which was shown to coincide with Red Nose Day and to raise awareness about malaria in Africa. In 2012, Claflin played Jack in “White Heat,” an epic drama for the BBC charting the lives of seven friends from 1965 to the present day. He starred in “United,” alongside David Tennant, Dougray Scott and Jack O’Connell. In this one off film for the BBC, Claflin played the talented footballer Duncan Edwards in the tragic story of the Munich Air Crash of 1958, which killed and injured a number of members of the Manchester United team.

In 2010, Claflin was seen in the hit Channel 4 mini-series “Pillars of the Earth,” based on Ken Follett’s novel of the same name. In this drama Claflin played Richard, alongside Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell and Ian McShane. Claflin also starred in the critically acclaimed adaptation of William Boyd’s Any Human Heart for Channel 4, which won a BAFTA Award for Best Drama serial. Claflin played the younger years of lead character Logan, sharing the role with Jim Broadbent and Matthew Macfadyen. The same year, Claflin also appeared in “The Lost Future,” a sci-fi adventure in which he played Kaleb, alongside Sean Bean and Annabelle Wallis.

Janet McTeer (Camilla Traynor) is a two-time Oscar nominee, Tony, Olivier and Golden Globe winner, and one of England’s most respected actresses.  McTeer’s prolific credits include stage productions of “The Grace of Mary Traverse” and “Uncle Vanya,” both of which earned her Olivier Award nominations. In 1997, she won an Olivier and a Tony for Best Actress for her portrayal of Nora in Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll House.”

McTeer followed her Broadway debut with a highly acclaimed starring turn in “Tumbleweeds,” for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe win. She returned to Broadway in the title role of a highly acclaimed production of “Mary Stuart.” In 2012, she was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for her work in “Albert Nobbs.” Her additional film credits include “The Woman in Black,” “Insurgent,” “Angelica,” “Father’s and Daughters,” and lending her voice as the narrator for “Maleficent.” She recently finished filming Amber Tamblyn’s directorial debut, “Paint it Black.”

For television, McTeer was nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Dame Julia Walsh in Sundance TV’s “The Honorouable Woman,” and received Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress for the roles of Jacquetta Woodville in FX’s “The White Queen” and Clementine Churchill in HBO’s “Into the Storm.” Most recently she co-starred in the CBS drama “Battle Creek.”
Charles Dance (Stephen Traynor) has amassed an impressive body of work in all media in some 35 years as an actor. His more recent film credits include “The Imitation Game,” in which he starred alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley; “Dracula Untold”; “Woman in Gold”; “Frankenstein”; “Child 44”; as well as Burr Steer’s adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” Last summer he shot the fifth “Underworld” and Paul Feig’s upcoming “Ghostbusters.”

His past major films include “Plenty,” “White Mischief,” “Good Morning Babylon,” “The Golden Child,” Alien 3,” “Last Action Hero,” “Hilary and Jackie,” “Michael Collins,” “Starter for Ten” for Sam Mendes’ Company, Robert Altman’s “Gosford Park,” and “Kabloonak,” for which he received the Best Actor award at the Paris Film Festival in 1996. Along with “The Perfect Disagreement,” directed by Antoine de Caunes, and “The Shooter,” with Wesley Snipes, his other film credits include Roland Joffe’s “There Be Dragons”; Your Highness,” directed by David Gordon Green, also starring James Franco and Natalie Portman; “Ironclad,” directed by Jonathan English, also featuring Derek Jacobi and Brian Cox; Deepa Mehta’s “Winds of Change,” the filmic adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children.

His past television highlights have been a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in “The Jewel in the Crown”; “Rebecca”; “Nicholas Nickelby”; “Fingersmith”; “Bleak House,” for which he received an International Emmy nomination and won the Press Guild Award for Best Actor; “Consenting Adults”; Giles Forster’s “This September”; “Neverland,” alongside Rhys Ifans and Anna Friel; and “Secret Life,” a documentary about Charles Dickens’ turbulent personal life. More recently, Dance starred as Tywin Lannister in HBO’s record-breaking “Game of Throne.” His other recent television credits include his starring role in an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic mystery novel “And Then There Were None,” for the BBC, starring alongside Sam Neill, Douglas Booth and Aidan Turner. He was also seen in “The Great Fire,” a four-part drama for ITV, in which he starred opposite Jack Huston, Andrew Buchan and Rose Leslie. In 2015, Dance appeared in UKTV Drama channel’s two-parter “Deadline Gallipoli,” and the three-part miniseries “Childhood’s End” for the Syfy channel.

On the stage Charles has played title roles in productions with the RSC, including “Henry V” and “Coriolanus,” and completed major work in London’s commercial theatre, including “Good Long Day’s Journey into Night,” with Jessica Lange; and “Shadowlands,” for which he received the London Critics’ Circle Award for Best Actor.

His debut as a film director and writer was “Ladies in Lavender,” with Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, for which both were nominated for European Film Academy Awards.
Brendan Coyle (Bernard Clark) was nominated for a BAFTA, IFTA and Primetime Emmy, and won three Screen Actors’ Guild Awards for Best Ensemble for his performance as John Bates in “Downton Abbey.”

Coyle’s film credits include “Unless,” “Noble,” “The Raven,” “Conspiracy,” “The Jacket,” “Perrier’s Bounty,” “The General,” “Ailsa” and “The Mark of Cain.”

His theatre credits include “The Weir” at the Royal Court theatre, for which he won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor as well as the New York Critics’ Theatre Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut. In addition, he has performed in “Mojo,” “Pygmies in The Ruins,” “The Changing Room” at the Royal Court theatre, “Philadelphia Here I Come” at Wyndham’s theatre, “Force and Hypocrisy” at the Young Vic, “The Late Henry Moss” at the Almeida, “Battle Royal” and “Buried Child” at the National Theatre, “The Bear” at the Gate, Dublin, and “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists” at the Sheffield Crucible.

His other television credits include “Thief Takers,” “Rebel Heart,” “Flesh and Blood,” “Waking the Dead,” “Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act,” “North and South,” “Shameless,” “Silent Witness,” “The Ghost Squad,” “True Dare Kiss,” “Lark Rise to Candleford,” “Omagh,” “Starlings” and “Spotless.”

His recent feature films include “Hercules,” alongside Dwayne Johnson, John Hurt and Ian McShane, and “Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot,” opposite Tina Fey and Margot Robbie.

Peacocke grew up in Dubbo in Central Western New South Wales, worked as a jackaroo on a large scale sheep & cattle station west of Bourke, and graduated from the University of Newcastle with a degree in Communications.

While recovering from a rugby injury in college, he auditioned for a play, leading to many performances for Newcastle University Conservatorium Theatre Productions.

The Leeds-born actor began his career at the tender age of five with several TV roles, but a speculative trip to open auditions in his hometown six years later saw him secure the much-loved role of Neville Longbottom in the most successful film series of all time.  His role as the hapless, endearing and eventually heroic Neville saw him build a massive worldwide fan base.

Lewis has also appeared on TV as Jamie in Kay Mellor’s primetime BBC1 hit series “The Syndicate,” receiving a TV Choice Award nomination for best actor.  Soon after, he played the role of Dodd in heist movie “The Rise,” co-starring Timothy Spall, Vanessa Kirby and Luke Treadaway.

He made his West End theatre debut in Jonathan Lewis’ critically acclaimed “Our Boys” at the Duchess Theatre, alongside Laurence Fox and Arthur Darville, in 2012.

In 2014, Lewis joined the cast of BBC3’s award-winning “Bluestone 42,” a comedy-drama about a British bomb disposal detachment in Afghanistan in which Lewis played ammunition expert Gordon House, and returned for the show’s third series in March 2015.  He can currently be seen in the role of Sgt. Drum Drummond on the BBC and Amazon’s crime drama “Ripper Street,” and as Sean Balmforth in Sally Wainwright’s BAFTA-winning series “Happy Valley.”
JENNA COLEMAN (Katrina “Treena” Clark) is establishing herself as one of the brightest young actors of her generation.  Coleman starred this year in ITV’s “Victoria,” the TV series about the early life of Queen Victoria from her ascension to the throne at the tender age of 18 through her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert.

She also starred as Clara on BBC’s “Doctor Who” TV series, alongside Peter Capaldi.  Her performance garnered a 2015 BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress.

Coleman’s television credits are extensive.  In 2013, Coleman starred alongside Matthew Goode and Matthew Rhys in the BBC Drama “Death Comes to Pemberley,” and also opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor in Steven Poliakoff’s “Dancing on the Edge.”

In 2012, Coleman was seen in the BBC Four BAFTA-winning adaptation of John Braine’s novel about a young man in 1940s Yorkshire, “Room at the Top,” and as Annie Desmond in the epic four-part ITV series “Titanic,” written by Julian Fellowes and released to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. 

Coleman also appeared in box office smash “Captain America: The First Avenger,” and on stage was most recently seen at The National Theatre in the role of Sarah Kate in “The Actor.”
Samantha Spiro (Josie Clark) was trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. Her theatre credits include “A Christmas Carol” at the Noel Coward Theatre”; “Di and Viv and Rose” at the Vaudeville Theatre; “Kafka's Dick” at the Theatre Royal Bath; “Macbeth” and “The Taming of the Shew” for Shakespeare’s Globe; “Filumena” at the Almeida Theatre; “Company” at the Sheffield Crucible; “Chicken Soup with Barley” at the Royal Court Theatre, for which she was nominated for the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2011, and nominated for the Best Actress in a Play Award at the Whatsonstage.com Awards in 2012; “Hello Dolly” at the Regent’s Park open air theatre, for which she won Best Actress in a Musical at the Olivier Awards in 2010; “Much Ado About Nothing,” also at Regent’s Park; “Twelfth Night” at the Donmar/Wyndhams; “Funny Girl” at the Chichester Festival; “The Family Plays” at the Royal Court Theatre; “Two Thousand Years” at the Royal National Theatre; “A Little Night Music” at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, for which she won Best Supporting Actress in a Musical at the Joseph Jefferson Awards in 2004; “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for the Crucible, Sheffield; “Bedroom Farce” at the Aldwych West End; “Merrily We Roll Along” at the Donmar, for which she won Best Actress in a Musical at the Olivier Awards in 2001 and the Whatsonstage.com Awards in 2001; “As You Like It” at the Crucible/Lyric; “Jumpers” for Birmingham Rep; “Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick” at the Royal National Theatre; “Roots” at Watford Palace/Oxford; “As You Like It” for West Yorkshire Playhouse/Bristol Old Vic; “Teechers” and “On the Piste” for Hull Truck/No 1 Tour; “How the Other Half Loves” at the Theatre Royal, Windsor; touring with “Glyn & It” and “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream; and “Tons of Money” for the Mercury Theatre.

Spiro’s television credits include ITV2’s “Plebs” and ITV’s “Panto!”; BBC’s “Tracey Ullman Show,” “London Spy” and “The Wrong Mans”; “Rock and Chips”; “After You’ve Gone”; Tiger Aspect’s “Bad Education”; “Psychobitches”; “Rebecca Front’s Little Cracker: Rainy Days and Mondays”; “Grandma's House,” for which she won Best Female Comedy Breakthrough Artist at the British Comedy Awards in 2010; Hartswood Films “Coupling”; Thames’ “M.I.T.” and “The Bill”; Granada’s “Cold Feet”; and Channel 4’s “TVGoHome” and “Noble & Silver.”

Her film credits include “A Running Jump”; “Tomorrow La Scala!”; “From Hell”; “Cor, Blimey!” and “Beyond Bedlam.”

Her radio credits include BBC Radio 4’s “Inspector Steine Series 4: The Return of Inspector Steine,” “Show Boat,” “Inspector Steine Series 3,” “Development,” “Just Between Ourselves,” “The Casebook of Inspector Steine,” “Horst Buchholz and Other Stories,” “Waiting for Di,” “Tony’s Little Sister and the Paradox of Monasticism,” “Otherkin,” “Sad Girl,” “Talking to Strangers,” “The Piper’s Chair,” “Snap,” “Spring Forward, Fall Back,” “By the Coast of Coromandel,” “Don’t Step on the Cracks,” “Little Cinderellas,” “Beside the Seaside,” and BBC Radio 3’s “The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene.”

A theatre veteran, Sharrock won the James Menzies-Kitchin Young Director of the Year Award in 2000, making her directorial debut with a production of Caryl Churchill’s “Top Girls,” which transferred to the West End and toured the UK twice.  Sharrock was then made Britain's youngest artistic director when she took over the Southwark Playhouse for three years before going on to become the artistic director of the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill.

           Since then, as a freelance director her credits include productions for the Almeida and the Donmar, the Royal National Theatre and numerous West End theatres, including productions of “Equus,” with Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths (also Broadway); “The Misanthrope,” with Keira Knightly; “Heroes,” with John Hurt; and “Cause Célèbre,” with Anne-Marie Duff at the Old Vic. Her production of “After the Dance” for the National Theatre won eight major awards.

She has also directed “Henry V,” starring Tom Hiddleston for Sam Mendes/Neal Street and the BBC, as well as the 2013 Christmas Special of “Call the Midwife,” also for Neal Street and the BBC.  She directed Richard Griffiths in his last stage performance, “The Sunshine Boys,” with Danny DeVito at the Savoy Theatre, before directing her first musical, “The Bodyguard,” at the Adelphi, which is now on a number one UK tour, before coming back to London this summer. It will also play to packed houses in Germany and Holland, and open in the United States, Italy and South Korea, later this year.  She recently directed Miranda Hart in her first arena tour and Kevin Spacey in his first one-man show, “Darrow,” for the Old Vic.

She spent ten years as a journalist on the Independent newspaper and South China Morning Post, covering stories from Belfast to the handover of Hong Kong and the death of Princess Diana.

She lives on a farm with her husband and three children, and she is currently adapting two more of her books for the big screen.
Karen Rosenfelt (Producer) is a producer based at 20th Century Fox. While at Fox, she produced “The Book Thief,” “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” and, most recently, “Alvin & The Chipmunks: Roadchip.”

She also recently produced “Max.” Rosenfelt previously served as executive producer on “Twilight” and as producer on “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1,” and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2.” Rosenfelt has also produced “The Big Year,” “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” and “Marley & Me,” and her executive producer credits include the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” franchise and “The Devil Wears Prada.” Rosenfelt also produced “Yogi Bear.”

For 16 years, Rosenfelt was a production executive at Paramount, where she oversaw live-action features such as “The First Wives Club,” “Indecent Proposal,” “Runaway Bride,” “Save the Last Dance,” “Coach Carter” and “Mean Girls.” She was instrumental in setting up Paramount’s partnership with Nickleodeon Movies, overseeing film adaptations of the Nickelodeon television properties “Rugrats” and “SpongeBob SquarePants,” as well as “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” based on the bestselling children’s books.

Rosenfelt began her career at ICM as an assistant to talent agent Sue Mengers. She went on to become a creative executive at Jerry Weintraub Productions and a senior vice president at MGM.

ITV Studios Global Entertainment recently acquired a minority stake in the company’s television sector, exclusively distributing all of the company’s television content. Under her previous banner, Ruby Film and Television, Owen executive produced Stephen Poliakoff’s “Dancing on the Edge,” an original series for the BBC and Starz, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthew Goode, John Goodman and Jacqueline Bisset, a Golden Globe winner for the show; and the first series of the detective show “Case Histories” for the BBC and Masterpiece, starring Jason Isaacs. Owen also executive produced the Emmy-winning “Temple Grandin,” HBO’s inspiring true-life drama starring Claire Danes, David Strathairn, Julia Ormond and Catherine O’Hara, which picked up seven Emmy awards, including Outstanding Made for Television Movie, Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Directing; “Toast,” a single film for the BBC, starring Freddie Highmore and Helena Bonham Carter, which premiered internationally at the Berlin Film Festival; and “Small Island,” a period drama made for the BBC and Masterpiece, for which she picked up an International Emmy. Monumental Pictures will continue to produce the high impact television for which Owen has become known. Their current projects include a modern adaptation of “Little Women” for ABC Signature, set to star Natascha McElhone and “The Langhorne Sisters” for the BBC.

2016 will see the release of Deborah Moggach’s bestselling historical romance “Tulip Fever,” adapted by Tom Stoppard, directed by Justin Chadwick with Christoph Waltz, Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan and Judi Dench starring. Last year, Sarah Gavron’s film about the Suffragette movement, “Suffragette,” starring Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson and Meryl Streep and written by Abi Morgan, premiered at the Telluride Film Festival before its theatrical release. Owen developed and produced both projects, the latter alongside Faye Ward.

Owen executive produced Phillip Noyce’s “The Giver” in 2014, based on Lois Lowry’s bestseller, with Jeff Bridges, Brenton Thwaites and Meryl Streep starring, and in 2013 produced “Saving Mr. Banks,” which explored the tempestuous relationship between author PL Travers and Walt Disney during the making of “Mary Poppins.” The film was written by Kelly Marcel, directed by John Lee Hancock with Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson and Colin Farrell starring.

Owen previously produced the award-winning “Jane Eyre,” directed by Cary Fukunaga and starring Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell and Judi Dench; Stephen Frears’ “Tamara Drewe,” an Official Selection at Cannes 2010; “Sylvia,” directed by Christine Jeffs and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig; “Proof,” David Auburn’s acclaimed drama directed by John Madden, starring Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins and Jake Gyllenhaal; “The Other Boleyn Girl,” starring Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana; and “Brick Lane,” directed by Sarah Gavron and starring Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik and Christopher Simpson.

She also executive produced Edgar Wright’s acclaimed zombie comedy “Shaun of the Dead,” a major critical and commercial success; “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” starring George Clooney, Kevin Spacey and Ewan McGregor; Steve Barron’s “Rat,” starring Pete Postlethwaite; Menhaj Huda’s “Is Harry on the Boat?”; and Philippa Collie-Cousins’ “Happy Now?”

Her earlier producer credits include the Working Title Film productions of Paul Weiland’s “Roseanna’s Grave”; Danny Cannon’s “The Young Americans,” starring Harvey Keitel and Viggo Mortenson; David Anspaugh’s “Moonlight and Valentino,” starring Whoopi Goldberg, Kathleen Turner and Paltrow; and her first feature, Peter Chelsom’s Irish comedy, “Hear My Song,” which earned Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and was chosen Best Comedy Film at the 1991 UK Comedy Awards. The film earned Owen a nomination as Most Promising New Producer from the Producers Guild of America.

Monumental Pictures is set to produce a slew of commercial, high-profile projects, including the film version of the best-selling novel How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran, and a new adaptation of “The Taming of the Shrew.”

Throughout her career, Baden-Powell has played numerous roles behind the scenes in feature production. She produced the thriller “Below,” from writer/director David Twohy, and “The Public Eye,” from writer/director Howard Franklin. She executive produced the hit Eddie Murphy comedy “Doctor Doolittle,” directed by Betty Thomas; Franklin’s “Larger Than Life,” starring Bill Murray; Matthew Warchus’ “Simpatico,” starring Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges, based on the Sam Shepard play; and writer/director Richard Kelly’s thriller “The Box,” starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden, based on a short story by Richard Matheson.

Baden-Powell also co-produced the features “Equilibrium,” “Boys and Girls,” “Andre” and “Chattahoochee”; was supervising producer on Michael Fields’ “Bright Angel”; and served as production manager or unit production manager on such films as “Nomads,” “1969,” “Earth Girls Are Easy” and “Radio Flyer.” She began her career in film as an executive in charge of production on Andrei Konchalovsky’s “Runaway Train,” starring Jon Voight, and also worked in that capacity on Gregory Nava’s “A Time of Destiny,” starring William Hurt and Timothy Hutton.