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Harvesting Laughs
Harvesting Laughs
Brenda Blethyn goes to pot in new film comedy
Two times Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn was looking purposeful as she pushed a ladened trolley through the aisles of a Homebase store in Hertfordshire. But the star of Little Voice and Secrets And Lies wasn’t actually shopping; her patient trawl though the store’s garden centre was purely for the benefit of the cameras.
Blethyn was in the store, just a few minutes drive from the Elstree Studios, to shoot her latest movie, the comedy Saving Grace, in which the acclaimed actress plays Grace Trevethan who is forced, by tragic circumstances, into some illegal, and very lucrative, gardening.
The sudden death of her husband shatters the façade of her seemingly idyllic life. Grace discovers that her late hubby had huge debts and a mistress, and that her loved Cornish home and its sprawling gar- dens may have to be sold off. In order to avoid this, Grace swaps growing prize-winning orchids for a harvest of marijuana. But although there’s big money in her new POT plants, this crooked cultivation brings our heroine into contact with some unsavoury and very dodgy characters.
At the end of her filmed trolley trek, Blethyn relaxed in her trailer and talked about why, out of all the projects which she’s offered, she had agreed to take on Saving Grace. “This came along a couple of years ago,
when I was making Girls’ Night - with Julie Walters - in Manchester. The writers came to see me and I thought this story of a sweet woman forced into an impossible situation was very appealing,” said Blethyn. “I also like the fact that it is funny and very much an ensemble piece.”
Crafted as a feel-good comedy, in the same sort of vein as Waking Ned, Saving Grace features an impressive cast, with Brenda joined by Los Angeles-based Scots actor Craig Ferguson, who stars in the American TV situation comedy, The Drew Carey Show. Ferguson, who is soon to be seen in another self-penned film com- edy, The Big Tease, co-wrote the movie with producer Mark Crowdy. The other members of the cast include Martin Clunes, veteran actor Leslie Phillips, Valerie Edmond, who starred in hit BBC TV drama series The Crow Road, and international star Tcheky Karyo, whose movies range from The Bear and Bad Boys to the imminent Joan Of Arc.
Blethyn is particularly pleased that the French actor plays her love interest in the comedy. “Be still my
beating heart,” she said when Karyo’s name was mentioned. “He’s such a very fine actor and such a gentleman - the French have just got it.”
The film marks the first time that Blethyn has filmed in Cornwall since she made the Roald Dahl film, The Witches. “It’s such a lovely part of the world, but the weather might have been a bit kinder. Still, I’m sure you’ll never notice the bad weather on the film.” The team behind the camera includes director Nigel Cole, whose credits include the ITV dra- mas Peak Practice and Cold Feet and director of photography, John de Borman (Hideous Kinky, The Mighty, The Full Monty).
Cole explained that selecting the type of film - in this case Fuji - that was to be used on Saving Grace was as vital as choosing the right bunch of actors. “We went with Fuji because we wanted to give the movie an individual look and one in which the colours are very rich,” said Nigel before going off to look at the morning’s rushes.
The story in Saving Grace, added Cole, is reflected by the
colours used during filming, begin- ning with a blue tone and gradually moving into a warmer, sepia sort of feel. So that the changing colour is a very important element of the movie. He added: “It starts very muted and, as Grace comes out of her shell, the colours become richer and richer. And we also wanted to end the story with a very rich satu- rated look and all of that is why we went with Fuji because the new stock really brings out the colours very strongly and can produce that particular over-saturated look.”
Photos above: Nigel Cole director of Saving Grace on the set; main: Brenda Blethyn and Craig Ferguson.
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