Diary Focus - Jim Broadbent
It seems we just can't get enough of Jim Broadbent. The actor has been on our screens for well over thirty years and has amassed several mantelpieces of gongs, including an Academy Award for Iris (2001), a BAFTA for Moulin Rouge! (2001) and a Golden Globe for Longford (2006).
We thought it would be a good time to take a peek at his diary and see what is in store over the coming months.
The Bridget Jones actor will next be seen on the small screen in The Great Train Robbery, a two-parter for BBC One which revisits the infamous heist. Told from two very different perspectives, the feature-length dramas comprise A Robber's Tale and A Copper's Tale.
Broadbent stars in the latter as DCS Tommy Butler, the man tasked with bringing the criminals to justice in a race against time, while under constant public pressure. Robert Glenister, Nick Moran, Tim Piggott-Smith, James Wilby and James Fox co-star.
Jim Broadbent and Robert Glenister in The Great Train Robbery.
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Having recently been in Bavaria filming Big Game with Samuel L. Jackson, the Lincolnshire-born thespian is currently busy filming his role in Paddington Bear, Heyday Films' big screen interpretation of the much-loved children's books by Michael Bond. The amazing A-list cast is perhaps testament to the affection in which the classics are held: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Bonneville, Peter Capaldi and Julie Walters star with Colin Firth voicing the little bear from Darkest Peru.
Our man plays Mr Gruber, Paddington's close friend and fellow immigrant, who runs an antique shop on Portobello Road. The pair frequently take elevenses together - anyone who has read the books will know that Broadbent is a perfect choice to play the gentle, kind man who calls Paddington 'Mr. Brown'.
The Harry Potter actor is also lined up to star in Get Santa, a forthcoming family comedy from Scott Free Productions. Rafe Spall co-stars in the tale about a father and son who must rally round to save Christmas after finding Santa sleeping in their shed, hiding out from the police having crashed his sleigh. Christopher Smith directs from his own screenplay; shooting is due to start soon.
Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan in Le Week-End
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And then Broadbent is due to film Brooklyn, a feature adaptation of the bestselling novel by Colm Toibin set in 1950s New York and Ireland. From Wildgaze Films, this one stars Saoirse Ronan, Domnhall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Julie Walters and Sarah Gadon. Cameras roll in the spring, with director John Crowley calling the shots.
Also in the pipeline for next year is Ethel & Ernest
