Laura Linney (Ozark) and Rhys Ifans (House of the Dragon) have been cast in But When We Dance, a special BBC drama about two people brought together by Parkinson’s disease.
The 90-minute drama, penned by Esio Trot writer Paul Mayhew-Archer, chronicles a touching story about two people with lots in common — a sense of humour, a love of dance, and Parkinson’s.
Monica Dolan (Mr Bates v’s The Post Office), Rory Kinnear (The Diplomat), and Mayhew-Archer have also been cast in But When We Dance.
The film is directed by Oscar-winner John Madden (Shakespeare in Love), and produced by Hilltop Screen, a John Gore Studios company, for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.
Here’s the logline: “Set and filmed in North Norfolk, Rhys plays Tony Evans, the deputy head of a local primary school. Laura stars as Emma Dretzin, a pianist, composer and single mother of two daughters. Neither knows the other until a startling encounter changes the course of their lives: on the same morning, they are both confronted with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s.”
Producers are Hilary Bevan Jones and John Gore. The executive producers are Madden, Mayhew-Archer, Rhys Ifans, Hilary Strong, and Francis Hopkinson for John Gore Studios; Ellie Wood, Helen Flint, and Lucy Richer for the BBC. Kaleidoscope Film Distribution will handle worldwide sales.
Mayhew-Archer said: “In 2011 when I was 58 years old, I was told I had Parkinson’s. It’s incurable and it makes many of the things I do – walking, talking, smiling – increasingly difficult. But though I have reasons to hate Parkinson’s it has also brought me opportunities I wouldn’t have missed for the world. The latest of these is the chance to work with the brilliant director John Madden and wonderful actors on bringing this story to life.”
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