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DARKEST HOUR (2017) Cast and Crew

David the Bruce • Nov 22, 2017

KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS is the recipient of a BAFTA Award, four Evening Standard British Film Awards, two London Critics' Circle Film Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, for her film work; and of a DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire), for her services to drama.

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(Cast, Crew, Production Notes, Review)

CAST AND CREW

Born to a family of puppeteers, JOE WRIGHT and grew up in the theatre his parents founded, The Little Angel Theatre in Islington, London.

Wright studied Fine Art, Film and Video at Central St Martin's College of Art. After college he worked on music videos and short films until 1997 when he was commissioned to direct Nature Boy, a four-part mini-series for BBC2. Nature Boy was awarded Best Drama Serial by the Royal Television Society. This was followed by several other highly acclaimed, nominated, and awarded mini-series, including Bob and Rose written by Russell T Davies, Bodily Harm starring Timothy Spall, George Cole and Lesley Manville; and Charles II for the BBC1, starring Rufus Sewell, which won the BAFTA for Best Drama Serial. Wright made his feature film directorial debut in 2005 with Pride & Prejudice , starring Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen, Rosamund Pike, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn and with Carey Mulligan, in her first screen appearance. The critically-acclaimed film won Wright BAFTA's Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in Their First Feature Film. He was also honored with the London Critics' Circle Film Award for British Director of the Year and the Boston Society of Film Critics' award for Best New Filmmaker. Pride & Prejudice was nominated for five additional BAFTA Awards, four Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Wright's second feature Atonement , based on Ian McEwan's novel, stars Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch and Saoirse Ronan. The film received thirteen BAFTA Award nominations, and won for Best Film and Best Production Design; received seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Score; received seven Golden Globe Award nominations, winning awards for Best Picture [Drama] and Best Original Score.

Wright next directed The Soloist, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, followed by the sleeper hit Hanna with an electro music score by The Chemical Brothers, starring Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett.

In 2011, Wright directed Anna Karenina , starring Keira Knightley, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jude Law, Domnhall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander - in her first English-speaking role - from a screenplay penned by Tom Stoppard. The film was nominated for six BAFTA awards and four Academy Awards, taking home both trophies for Best Costume Design.

In 2015, Wright directed Pan, an origin story of the beloved Peter Pan characters, starring Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara and Levi Miller.

In 2016, Wright directed the acclaimed "Nosedive" episode of the television series Black Mirror, which starred Bryce Dallas Howard in the leading role and earned her a Screen Actors Guild nomination. Wright made his debut in the theatre world in 2013 at the Donmar Warehouse with Trelawny of the Wells , an Arthur Pinero play re-worked by Patrick Marber. This was followed by the critically acclaimed A Season in the Congo at the Young Vic Theatre starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, and most recently Life of Galileo at the Young Vic Theatre, featuring music by The Chemical Brothers.

Wright is a director of Shoebox Films, a London based film and television production company which, among other work, produced Steve Nights' critically acclaimed and multi-award winning thriller Locke starring Tom Hardy. Wright lives in London with his wife, classical sitarist Anoushka Shankar, and their two sons.


An acclaimed presence in motion pictures for 30 years, GARY OLDMAN is regarded as one of the foremost actors of his generation.

He is known to millions the world over for his iconic characterizations of Sirius Black (Harry Potter's godfather), Commissioner Jim Gordon (Batman/Bruce Wayne's crime-fighting partner), Dracula, Beethoven, Pontius Pilate, Lee Harvey Oswald, Joe Orton, Sid Vicious, and George Smiley. The latter portrayal, in Tomas Alfredson's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy , brought him accolades worldwide including BAFTA Award, British Independent Film Award, European Film Award, and Academy Award nominations for Best Actor.

In 2011, he was honored with the Empire Awards' Icon Award for Achievement and with a Career Tribute at the Gotham Independent Film Awards. At the 2014 London Critics' Circle Film Awards, he was honored with the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film.

The UK native has starred in 13 movies that have opened in the #1 position at the box office. As part of the two most successful franchises in movie history, was in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaband, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 , directed by Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell, and David Yates, respectively; and Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins , The Dark Knight , and The Dark Knight Rises .

Mr. Oldman's acting career began in 1979, and for several years he worked exclusively in the theatre; from 1985 through 1989, he alternated film work with stage work at London's Royal Court Theatre. Among his early telefilms were Mike Leigh's Meantime and the late Alan Clarke's The Firm .

His features include Alex Cox's Sid and Nancy ; Stephen Frears' Prick Up Your Ears; Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guidenstern Are Dead; Phil Joanou's State of Grace ; Oliver Stone's JFK ; Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker 's Dracula; Tony Scott's True Romance; Bernard Rose's Immortal Beloved ; Luc Besson's The Professional (a.k.a. Leon ) and
The Fifth Element ; Wolfgang Petersen's Air Force One ; Ridley Scott's Hannibal ; Albert and Allen Hughes' The Book of Eli ; Daniel Espinosa's Child 44 ; and Matt Reeves' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes .

With Douglas Urbanski, Mr. Oldman produced the feature Nil by Mouth . The film marked his screenwriting and directing debut, and was selected to world premiere as the opening-night film of the 1997 [50th Anniversary of the] Cannes International Film Festival, at which the film's leading lady Kathy Burke won the Best Actress award. Subsequent honors for Nil by Mouth included the prestigious Channel Four Director's Prize, at the Edinburgh International Film Festival; six British Independent Film Award (BIFA) nominations, and three wins including for Ms. Burke and her fellow actors Ray Winstone and Laila Morse; the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay as well as BAFTA's Alexander Korda Award for the Outstanding British Film of the Year, the latter shared by Mr. Oldman and Mr. Urbanski.

The team's subsequent productions have included Rod Lurie's The Contender , starring Joan Allen and Jeff Bridges. The film received two Academy Award, two Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, including one for Best Supporting Actor (Mr. Oldman); and the ensemble and the writer/director were honored with the Broadcast Film Critics Association's Alan J. Pakula Award.


KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS is the recipient of a BAFTA Award, four Evening Standard British Film Awards, two London Critics' Circle Film Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, for her film work; and of a DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire), for her services to drama. A bilingual actress equally at home playing French and English-language roles, she received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her starring role opposite Ralph Fiennes in Anthony Minghella's Best Picture Academy Award-winning The English Patient .

With her fellow actors from Robert Altman's Gosford Park , Kristin shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. The cast was also honored with the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble, and the movie was a Best Picture Academy Award nominee, winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (Julian Fellowes).

Her breakout role was in another Best Picture Oscar-nominated classic comedy, Four Weddings and a Funeral , written by Richard Curtis and directed by Mike Newell, which brought her BAFTA and Evening Standard British Film Awards. Among her screen credits are Sam Taylor-Johnson's Nowhere Boy , for which she was a BAFTA and BIFA (British Independent Film Award) nominee; Sydney Pollack's Random Hearts; The Horse Whisperer , starring opposite director Robert Redford; Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible ; Irwin Winkler's Life as a House , opposite Kevin Kline; Philip and Belinda Haas' Angels and Insects, for which Kristin won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress, and U p at the Villa ; Richard Loncraine's Richard III ; Roman Polanski's Bitter Moon ; Guillaume Canet's hit Tell No One ; and Charles Sturridge's A Handful of Dust , for which she received her first Evening Standard British Film Award.

She received her fourth Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in Catherine Corsini's Partir [ Leaving ], which also brought her a Cesar Award (France's Oscars equivalent) nomination for Best Actress. She was previously a César nominee for Philippe Claudel's Ily along tempsquejet' aime [ I've Loved You So Long], for which she was again a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominee.

Among Kristin's recent films are The Invisible Woman , starring with director Ralph Fiennes; Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God For gives ; Francois Ozon's In the House ; Israel Horovitz's My Old Lady, with Kevin Kline and Dame Maggie Smith, and Sally Potter's upcoming The Party .

Her theatre credits include Peter Morgan's The Audience ; and Ian Rickson's production of Electra at the Old Vic, which followed her appearances in Mr. Rickson's West End productions of Old Times and Betrayal and his acclaimed Royal Court staging of The Seagull. For her portrayal of Arkadina in The Seagull , she received the Olivier Award for Best Actress, and reprised the role on Broadway. Kristin's other stage work includes starring in West End productions of As You Desire Me and Three Sisters ; and starring in a production of Racine's Berenice that toured France.

Her television credits include the UK miniseries Body & Soul , directed by Moira Armstrong; and Jack Gold's telefilm version of The Tenth Man , in which she starred alongside Sirs Anthony Hopkins and Derek Jacobi.


Widely recognized as one of Australia's most outstanding actors, BEN MENDELSOHN has starred in movies all over the world.

His performance opposite James Frecheville and Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver in David Michod's Animal Kingdom earned him Australia's top movie honors - the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award, the Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) Award, and the IF Award - for Best Actor. He has received multiple other AFI and FCCA Award nominations, including for his work in Rachel Ward's Beautiful Kate , with Rachel Griffiths; and won an AFI Award for his performance in John Duigan's The Year My Voice Broke , which was his breakthrough film, and a FCCA Award for his work in Geoffrey Wright's Metal Skin .

Among Mr. Mendelsohn's many other movies are Terrence Malick's The New World ; Craig Lahiff's Black and White , in which he portrayed mogul Rupert Murdoch; Baz Luhrmann's Australia and Joel Schumacher's Trespass , both with Nicole Kidman; Gary McKendry's Killer Elite ; David Caesar's Prime Mover , Idiot Box, and Mullet , in the title role of the latter; Alex Proyas' Knowing ; Martin Campbell's Vertical Limit ; Mark Joffe's Cosi and Spotswood (a.k.a. The Efficiency Expert ); Nadia Tass' Amy and The Big Steal ; John Duigan's Sirens ; Vincent Ward's Map of the Human Heart ; and Simon Wincer's Quigley Down Under .

Over the past decade, his films have included the blockbusters Rogue One , directed by Gareth Edwards, and The Dark Knight Rises , directed by Christopher Nolan; Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly ; Anne Fontaine's Adore ; Kevin Macdonald's Black Sea and Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines , both also for Focus Features; Lost River , directed by Ryan Gosling; Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings ; John Maclean's Slow West ; Benedict Andrews' Una , opposite Rooney Mara; Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's Mississippi Grind , for which he received a Spirit Award nomination; and David Mackenzie's Starred Up , for which Mr. Mendelsohn won the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He has received AFI and Logie Award nominations for his starring role in the television series Love My Way . He has guest-starred on some of Australia's most acclaimed television productions, including Halifax f.p. , G.P. , Police Rescue, and The Secret Life of Us (in an arc). For his work on the show Tangle , he won the Astra Award for Best Actor and was again a Logie Award nominee.

Throughout his career, Mr. Mendelsohn has simultaneously honed his craft on stage, including starring as Mark Anthony in Julius Caesar and Tom in The Glass Menagerie, both for Sydney Theatre Company. His other theater work includes My Zinc Bed , Cosi (for Belvoir St. Theatre), and The Selection (for Melbourne Theatre Company).

He won an Emmy Award, and was a Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Award nominee, for his portrayal of Danny Rayburn on the Netflix series Bloodline, which ran for three seasons.

VIEW ALL DARK HOUR PAGES
(Cast, Crew, Production Notes, Review)

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