EXCLUSIVE: British actor Tim Downie (Outlander, Good Omens) has signed on to star in the feature film All That Glitters, a young adult comedy-drama inspired by Shakespeare and how his work may have been shaped by modern life.
Downie has joined the cast alongside Paul Ready (Motherland), Elliot Grihault (House of the Dragon), and Mark Lavery (Vikings). The pic entered pre-production this past week.
All That Glitters is billed as “a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet in a UK school setting, populated with anxious teens and TikTok scrollers.” The story follows Ryan (Grihault) who is the lighting technician for his school’s play Romeo and Juliet, directed by his dad Philip (Downie). But he struggles to keep his eye on the ball as he’s hopelessly in love with the play’s lead, Jasmine. To Ryan’s surprise, one night, the ghost of Shakespeare himself (Ready) appears in his room and offers to teach him the role of Romeo so he can star alongside Jasmine in the play. But with Jasmine’s enigmatic friend Billy (Lavery) hanging around, his rival Romeo, Fred (Manzoor), and the school’s prodigy, Hugo (Craven) in the way, how will Ryan ever prove himself to Jasmine – and does he really need to?
Pic is written and directed by Peter Lavery, who is making his feature debut. The producer is Joe Andrews and the executive producer is Bandit Films’ Johnny Gogan. The supporting cast includes Anya Preston as Cassie, Noah Manzoor (Silverpoint) in the role of Fred, and James Craven (Geek Girl) in the role of Hugo.
“Shakespeare has always been a great passion of mine, and in this film, Peter has written a wonderfully fun, uplifting love letter to the Bard that I can’t wait to get started on,” said Downie.
Lavery added: “I’ve always wanted to bring Shakespeare back in fashion, and we’re incredibly proud to be working with an all-star cast who will do just that. This is a comedy-drama film that tackles dark but relatable themes and allows young adults to connect with Shakespeare in a way that hasn’t been done before – created by a cast and crew that actually understands the age group. We couldn’t be more excited to begin production this week and see this fantastic cast bring these characters to life.”
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