Presents
Nowhere Boy
Production Notes
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Film4 and the UK Film Council present
In association with Northwest Vision and Media and Lip Sync Productions
and HanWay Films
An Ecosse Films Production
A Sam Taylor-Wood Film
Nowhere Boy
Produced by
Robert Bernstein
Douglas Rae
Kevin Loader
Written by
Matt Greenhalgh
Executive Producers
Mark Woolley
Tessa Ross
Christopher Moll
Jon Diamond
Tim Haslam
Co-Producer
Paul Ritchie
Co-Producers
Matt Delargy
James Saynor
Co-Executive Producers
Harvey Weinstein
Bob Weinstein
Director of Photography
Seamus McGarvey ASC, BSC
Editor
Lisa Gunning
Production Designer
Alice Normington
Costume Designer
Julian Day
Makeup & Hair Designer
Jeremy Woodhead
Original Music by
Will Gregory
Alison Goldfrap
Music Supervisor
Ian Neil
Casting
Nina Gold
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‘Mother.. you had me, but I never had you.’
Imagine John Lennon's childhood... Liverpool 1955: a smart and troubled fifteen year-old is
hungry for experience. In a family full of secrets, two incredible women clash over John. Mimi,
the buttoned-up Aunt who raised him, and Julia, the prodigal mother. Yearning for a normal
family, John escapes into the new and exciting world of rock n' roll where his fledgling genius
finds a kindred spirit in the teenage Paul McCartney. Just as John begins his new life, tragedy
strikes. But a resilient young man finds his voice - and an icon explodes into the world.
Sam Taylor-Wood’s debut feature, Ecosse Films’ Nowhere Boy, recounts the story of John
Lennon’s teenage years. The film features rising star Aaron Johnson (Angus, Thongs and Perfect
Snogging, Kickass) as John Lennon, Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient, I’ve Loved You So
Long) as Lennon’s Aunt Mimi, Anne-Marie Duff (Notes on a Scandal, Shameless) as his mother
Julia. The young Paul McCartney is played by Thomas Brodie Sangster (Love Actually, Nanny
McPhee) with newcomer Sam Bell as George Harrison. The strong supporting cast includes David
Morrissey (The Other Boleyn Girl, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin) playing Bobby Dykins, Julia’s longterm boyfriend, and David Threlfall (Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Master and Commander) as Mimi’s
husband, George Smith. Nowhere Boy was produced by Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae for
Ecosse Films (Brideshead Revisited, The Waterhorse, Becoming Jane) and Kevin Loader (In the
Loop, Venus, The Mother).
Nowhere Boy is an Ecosse Films production in association with Film4, the UK Film Council’s
Premiere Fund, NorthWest Vision and Media, Lip Sync Productions and Aver Media. The script was
developed with the support of the UK Film Council’s Development Fund.
Director Sam Taylor-Wood was nominated for a Palme d’Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival for
her Film4 debut short Love You More, produced by her mentor Anthony Minghella. Her work as an
artist and photographer is in many of the world’s most prestigious galleries. The screenplay was
written by Matt Greenhalgh, winner of the BAFTA Carl Foreman Award in 2007 for Control.
Oscar and BAFTA-nominated for his work on Atonement, Seamus McGarvey is Director of
Photography, having also collaborated with Taylor-Wood on her short Love You More. McGarvey
most recently shot Joe Wright’s new film The Soloist and his other notable credits include Oliver
Stone’s World Trade Center and Stephen Daldry’s The Hours. BAFTA winner Alice Normington
(Brideshead Revisited, And When Did You Last See your Father?) is Production Designer, with Julian
Day (Control, Boy A, My Summer of Love) as Costume Designer.
Nowhere Boy – Short Synopsis
Imagine John Lennon's childhood... Liverpool 1955: a smart and troubled fifteen year-old is hungry
for experience. In a family full of secrets, two incredible women clash over John. Mimi, the
buttoned-up Aunt who raised him, and Julia, the prodigal mother. Yearning for a normal family,
John escapes into the new and exciting world of rock n' roll where his fledgling genius finds a
kindred spirit in the teenage Paul McCartney. Just as John begins his new life, tragedy strikes. But
a resilient young man finds his voice - and an icon explodes into the world
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Nowhere Boy – Long Synopsis
Woolton, Liverpool, the mid 1950’s… rebellious teenager John Lennon lives with his Aunt Mimi
and Uncle George. He’s a cheeky, irreverent adolescent over whom Mimi tries to keep a strict rein,
despite John and best friend Pete Shotton’s efforts to get into trouble playing truant and ‘bus
surfing’, among other things. George, on the other hand, is more of a soft touch and there’s a
tremendous affection between him and John, which is cemented when George buys John his first
harmonica and promises to teach him to play. They share a love of music and radio comedy: their
fun-loving relationship contrasts with the constant raised eyebrow of Mimi.
Everything changes when Uncle George has a heart attack and dies as he and John lark about
together. The loss of George leaves an unfillable void in the house, but, as Mimi bluntly informs
John when he turns to her for comfort, “we just have to get on with it, it’s just the two of us now.”
After George’s funeral John’s cousin Stan asks him if he would like to meet his mother, the skittish
red haired woman who made an appearance at George’s graveside earlier. John agrees and is
shocked to realise that she lives less than are mile’s walk away from his Aunt’s house in Menlove
Avenue.
When he arrives, his mother Julia can hardly believe he is there at her door. She hugs him like he
has never been hugged before; tight, almost too tight. He meets his younger stepsisters and is
seduced by the lively house and life his Mum inhabits, a stark contrast to his home at Aunt Mimi’s.
Julia is smitten by him too, and whisks him off to Blackpool for the day, where she introduces him
to a brand new music from America, rock 'n' roll, and through the smoky haze of a pier Milk Bar
tells him what it really means – Sex. Back at Julia’s house, her common-law husband Bobby comes
home to see John and Julia laughing, singing, and dancing together. Unimpressed, he breaks up
the party; John catches the mood and leaves, promising Julia he won’t tell Mimi about their crazy
day together.
Later, John dreams and sees flashes and images of a past he can’t make sense of; hazy figures, a
seaside town, buried memories.
Meanwhile, Mimi takes in a lodger, biochemistry student Michael Fishwick, to help around the
house, and maybe set an academic example to John. But at Quarrybank School John's classes are
consumed with his overactive imagination, cheeky wit, doodles and drawings and the production
of his now infamous creation ‘The Daily Howl’ a satirical comic targeting his schoolteachers.
John goes to see Julia again and gets a cool reception from Bobby. In spite of this, he and Julia take
a trip to the local cinema where they watch newsreels of Elvis Presley, the phenomenon that has
swept America and is now conquering Britain. Close-up, John realises the effect the man and the
music have on women, including his Mother who’s like a giddy schoolgirl.
On one of John and Pete's excursions from school to steal some vinyl from the local record shop,
they realise they have stolen jazz and start to chuck the discs in the water at the docks. A Cunard
Yank, (seamen/ship workers from Liverpool who travelled back and forth to New York and brought
back US influenced music/fashion/culture to the city) stops them in their tracks and offers to swap
the rest of their haul with an import he’s brought in fresh from New York City, 'I Put A Spell On
You' by Screaming Jay Hawkins. John plays it to his mum; she is very impressed and loses herself
in the music.
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Back at school one of John’s pranks gets him and his best mate Pete Shotton suspended for a
week but, rather than face the wrath of Mimi, John intercepts the suspension letter and begs Julia
to let him spend the week with her. She agrees and, seeing his growing interest in music, starts to
teach him to play the banjo. He is impressed with her talent and lust for life and wants to learn
everything he can from her.
After the inevitable phone call from Quarrybank School, Mimi finds out John has been suspended
and comes to find him at Julia’s house. Mimi is unceremoniously thrown out and Julia tells John
he can stay. But later that night John overhears a strained conversation between Bobby and his
mother and realises her mental vulnerability and the reason for Bobby’s concerns. He leaves his
mother’s house the next day, awkward and in pain. Julia is similarly distraught.
Back at Mendips John announces his intention to start a rock ‘n’ roll band. Mimi takes him to buy
his first guitar and John consequently gathers his mates together in the boys toilets at Quarrybank
school, assigns them their roles in his skiffle band and ‘The Quarrymen’ are born.
We cut to their most famous early gig - at St Peter’s Church Fete - where the boys play to a genteel
audience, including Julia, though John plays it cool with her. A young Paul McCartney watches
them and is introduced to John and the boys in the church hall across the road. Paul not only plays
the guitar better than any of them, he plays it left-handed. John does his best to remain
unimpressed, but realises Paul’s potential. Soon Paul and John are regularly practising at Mimi’s,
though she hastily consigns them to the porch to make their ‘music’. It is here during one of their
sessions that Paul tells John that they really should write their own stuff if they are going to make
any money. John sees that he is talking sense, he also finds out they have more in common than
he first thought; Paul too has grown-up without a mother.
In the meantime, John’s exams results arrive and Mimi is not impressed - she sells his beloved
guitar. When John discovers what Mimi has done, he storms straight round to his mum’s house
and demands the money to buy it back. Julia obliges and he gleefully returns to tell Mimi exactly
who has bought it back for him.
By this time the Quarrymen’s shows are starting to get more and more popular and Julia goes to
all their gigs. She takes great delight in being backstage with the group, which starts to irritate
John and some of the band. But Julia deflects his obvious discontent one night by announcing her
intention to throw a big party at her house for John’s birthday; how can John refuse? On the bus
on the way home from the gig Paul introduces John and the lads to a friend of his, George
Harrison. He quickly impresses them with his guitar skills and his laddish charm and is welcomed
into the group.
The night of the party arrives and John is feeling fractious and still without answers to his ever
increasing list of questions about his past. He knocks back a few drinks and starts to see
everything his mother does as an annoyance. This growing frustration and anger comes to a head
when as soon as they are alone outside the house he asks his Mother where his Dad is. Julia tells
him little to satisfy him but enough to open the floodgates – all she says is that his father
abandoned them and went off to sea. Not content with this scant explanation he storms off to
Mimi’s house and as Julia follows to try and make peace, the three collide in a maelstrom of
disclosure and confession.
John has his answers and suddenly all his dreams and flashbacks make sense; a decision put to a 55
year-old boy, a mother who couldn’t cope and an Auntie ready and waiting to pick up the pieces.
John flees the scene and tries to block out the truth by sinking into a drunken stupor. The next day
he finds his Aunt tending to Uncle George’s grave and he announces his intention to move out
because, it seems, Mimi and Fishwick appear to be closer than lodger and landlady. But John
wants Mimi to know he still loves his mum despite everything they have all been through and
wants them to remember they are sisters.
John enrolls at Art College and finally discovers an outlet for his creativity. Mimi and Julia meet
and make peace and, upon seeing them relaxing in deckchairs together in the garden one
afternoon, John sees the real affection between them and is happy. His happiness is short-lived
however when, as Julia is leaving Mimi’s house one day she is knocked over by a speeding car on
Menlove Avenue. John is devastated and angry and at the funeral he lashes out at his friends
before finally breaking down in McCartney’s arms, crying, “I was just getting to know her…she’s
never coming back”.
Bobby presents John with some money his mother saved for him and the band use it to make their
first recording - a Paul McCartney composition entitled ‘In Spite Of All The Danger’. The pain is
there to see on John’s face throughout, but the recording sets them on their way. John arrives at
Mendips to tell Mimi he’s off to Hamburg with the latest incarnation of the group, and he needs
her to sign his passport application.
Mimi keeps up their usual banter though as she playfully says she can’t recall the name of his new
band. They share an affectionate farewell and John walks away from Mendips with a promise to
call her when he gets to Germany, which he did and continued to do so every week of his life
thereafter.
“I wasn’t lovable, I was always Lennon”
For Ecosse Films the idea of focusing a project on John Lennon had been in the pipeline for quite a
while, but it was in a culmination of details and information from a number of books, other source
articles and quotes by Lennon himself that the producers saw real potential for a great story, and
one that had not been covered in any Lennon/Beatles films before. So ‘Nowhere Boy’ was born
and the bones of a story began to take shape. Not of Lennon’s well renowned Beatles days and
beyond, but instead the story of his teenage years in Liverpool and, significantly, his relationship
with two incredibly powerful and influential women that shaped the icon Lennon was to become.
Many key elements came from what John Lennon himself had to say about his childhood, the
women who raised him, and the beginnings of his own musical odyssey.
Quotes like:
"If I’d had a better education, I wouldn’t have been me. When I was at grammar school I thought
I’d go to university, but I didn’t get any GCEs. Then I went to art school and thought I’d go to the
Slade and become a wonder. But I never fitted in. I was always a freak, I was never lovable. I was
always Lennon!"
"I lost my mother twice. Once as a child of five and then again at seventeen. It made me very, very
bitter inside. I had just begun to re-establish a relationship with her when she was killed."
“I used to say to my Auntie, 'You throw my fuckin' poetry out, and you'll regret it when I'm famous,'
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and she threw the bastard stuff out. I never forgave her for not treating me like a fuckin' genius or
whatever I was when I was a child.”
“They [teachers] torture and scare you for twenty odd years... then they expect you to pick a
career.”
“Surrealism had a great effect on me because then I realised that the imagery
in my mind wasn't insanity. Surrealism to me is reality.”
"I always was a rebel... but on the other hand, I wanted to be loved and accepted... and not just be
a loudmouth, lunatic, poet, musician. But I cannot be what I am not."
The key threads of the story emerged as the relationship between Lennon, his Aunt Mimi and
mother Julia, his school days in post war Liverpool and his creative but unfocussed mind; the
influence of the introduction of Rock ‘n’ Roll to UK shores and the genesis of ‘The Quarrymen’
right up to his first trip with the band to Hamburg which is where we leave him.
Producer Robert Bernstein explains the instant attraction to the project. “I personally wasn’t a
Lennon fan but I could certainly identify with the relationship he had with his mother which was
cut short so early in his life, and for me that was a very strong emotional connection. As well as of
course the birth of rock ‘n’ roll in this country and the lead up to the birth of the Beatles, so there’s
a whole mixture of what makes an enticing project for a producer”.
The next step was finding someone to take on the mammoth, and slightly intimidating, task of
literally putting words into John Lennon’s mouth. For this Ecosse approached one of the hottest
screenwriting talents in the UK to date, Matt Greenhalgh, who wrote the award winning Control,
to write the script.
“We thought long and hard about which writer should tackle the project,” Bernstein says, “and
we’d seen Control and just thought Matt had the understanding of personalities in the music
world, as well as an empathy with the Lennon background and story.”
For Greenhalgh, who won the BAFTA for his Joy Divison biopic screenplay, it was a project he
simply couldn’t say no to.
“Ecosse got in touch with me after Control and asked me what I thought about this story, this
triangle. I was immediately hooked and just said yes. It was pretty mad. Where John Lennon is
concerned though, you really wouldn’t want to pass up an opportunity to do something about
him. Just mention the name and certain images pop up. I was more intrigued that we would be
telling a story about a John Lennon that hadn’t been seen or documented before, it was him as a
kid. It’s always nice to think of characters as kids because you can actually create them - it
doesn’t come with too much baggage. I think with John there’s so much stuff out there that
anyone who comes to do a film about The Beatles’ later years is setting themselves up for a fall,
but I felt confident I could write something original.”
Bernstein and fellow producers at Ecosse were not disappointed. “I think he’s got an anarchic
voice and he’s very emotional and raw in the way that Lennon was as a kid and an adult. Matt
captured for us that sense of personality moving from boyhood to manhood and being on the
cusp of the two sides and did it incredibly powerfully.”
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It helped Greenhalgh to visit some of the famous Lennon sights in Liverpool where a large amount
of inspiration for his script came from.
“You visualize everything when you’re writing, I think that’s the only way, otherwise you’re just
looking at ink. So I acted the scenes out, I walked around Mendips, and Woolton, I went to St
Peter’s Church Hall where John and Paul first met. I wanted to understand exactly what the
locations were, it’s about imbibing, getting the look right, feeling the dialogue is right and trying to
capture the way people spoke at the time. Once that’s all in place, the pictures come into your
head.”
Nowhere Boy, Somewhere Girl
So they had their words, the next job in hand was finding a director to bring the young Lennon to
life on screen. Little did Ecosse know they were the target of a missile named Sam Taylor-Wood
who had come across the script and locked on to the idea of doing the project with a
determination that was overwhelming.
Following the success of her Palme D’or nominated short film Love You More Sam Taylor-Wood
was inspired to take the next step to make a feature by long time friend and producer, the late
Anthony Minghella.
"Anthony Minghella was the one who inspired me to make the giant leap from making films that
existed for art galleries to directing a feature. It was his interest in my artwork that started it all,
and then we collaborated on my short film Love You More so he really encouraged me. He asked
me if this was what I'd really like to do and I said it was; he gave me the confidence because he
genuinely believed I could do it and told me so, which was exactly what I needed. Perhaps I would
have come to it later, but I was almost waiting for something like that to happen, I wasn’t quite
sure how to make the next jump. There had been a lot of talk about it and I’d had a few meetings
with people but nothing grabbed me and pushed me in that direction until he did.”
“I don’t think you could have half measures with a script like this”, Bernstein explains, “it was so
arresting it was vital to get the right talent attached to it. Sam came to us and she was incredibly
passionate about the story, which mirrored elements of her own life. She literally wouldn’t take
no for an answer and that level of intensity was beguiling and so at a certain point you just have to
use your instinct and say, lets go for it.”
Taylor-Wood agrees. "There were many levels on which this film appealed to me. I felt I could
understand where Lennon came from because of his creative mind and the occasional moments I
border on thinking I might be mad because my mind never stops! I think also both of us had
turbulent backgrounds so there were lots of parallels and many elements about the story I felt
akin to."
It was this connection and her dogged determination that eventually got Sam her wish. “Robert
had to ask me to leave him alone and stop stalking him. I basically door-stepped Ecosse telling
them to give me the job. Eventually I think they just couldn’t stand it anymore and gave me the
green light.”
Finding Lennon
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The next, and potentially most challenging step was finding their young Lennon. No easy task; or
so they thought. “Nina Gold, the casting director, cast the net very wide”, explains producer Kevin
Loader, “and it’s through this process that you’re faced with the decision of going down the route
of finding the musician who can sing and play the guitar and hope he can act, or going with an
actor and hoping he can learn, fast.”
One of those actors was Aaron Johnson (Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging, The Illusionist, The
Thief Lord), someone who although not musically trained, had just the right mix of looks, swagger
and charisma they were looking for.
Kevin remembers the moment he first realised they had found their man, “I thought Aaron looked
spookily like John Lennon, I’d seen him in Gurinder Chadha’s film Angus Thongs and Perfect
Snogging, so I knew he was a good-looking boy, but I hadn’t realised then how much he could look
like Lennon facially. He also managed to find that cockiness quite quickly even in the audition
process; for me it was pretty instantaneous that he was our best candidate.”
It took a couple of call backs before finally deciding on Aaron Johnson but much like Kevin Loader,
Taylor-Wood was sure they had found their John.
“I had an absolutely clear idea of who that person ought to be and I knew when Aaron walked in
the room it was going to be him. He had a certain sensibility about him and a look that I knew was
going to work. Though I saw him pretty early on so then had to see a hundred other people and
go through the motions of making sure and satisfying everyone’s criteria, but I knew when I met
Aaron absolutely in that instant it was going to be him.”
Aaron remembers the day only too well, but not with quite the same conviction that he was the
man they wanted. “I was filming KickAss at the time for which I was doing an American accent but
then in my lunch breaks I was looking up footage of John Lennon and trying to get a sense of his
accent. So at that point I was going from America to Liverpool and it was really giving my head a
bit of a spin. I was nervous as hell and stumbling quite a lot but I’d remembered a certain line that
Lennon had said in an interview and I just kept running that line in my head and speaking it out
loud. They must have thought I was completely barmy because I wasn’t really looking up, I was
just trying to do this line, keeping the accent and the mood he was in, but it just looked like I was
talking to myself! So I just forgot about it after that, but then I got a call back and they offered me
the role.”
With the shadow of Lennon looming large Johnson found it intimidating but a challenge he rose to
wholeheartedly. “It played on my mind quite a bit in the beginning because I didn’t want to put a
foot wrong; I just thought to myself I really can’t mess this up. I felt I had to do him justice and do
the best I could and forget about what other people might think. People are going to have their
opinion, and whatever perception they may have of Lennon might not be what I’ve done and
that’s fine. I just followed my instincts and with everybody’s help worked on it a lot. We worked
as a team, a true collaboration, all focused on making it the best we could.”
Producer Bernstein was full of admiration for the way Johnson approached the role, “It must have
been quite intimidating for him. He had a dialect coach, he learned to sing and play the guitar; his
commitment was amazing. He threw himself into it completely which, to be honest, he had to.
Playing John Lennon isn’t something you can hide from, everyone’s going to be questioning and
scrutinizing it. I think he’s done a great job and Yoko Ono saw the film and liked his performance
very much which is a great endorsement.”
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John Lennon’s young life was dominated by two very influential women; his Aunt Mimi with whom
John lived from around the age of 5, who encouraged him to do well at school and grow up as a
nice middle class boy; the other, his mother Julia, whom the young John had vague but broken
memories of and only rediscovers again at the age of 15, living only minutes down the road from
him. More importantly, Julia was the woman who introduced him to rock ‘n’ roll and taught him
to play the guitar, triggering in him the previously untapped genius for words and music that lay
beneath.
For the producers and Taylor-Wood, the key, having found their John, was finding the women to
portray Aunt Mimi and John’s mother Julia – the women who shaped the Lennon the world would
come to know and love.
Anne-Marie Duff, up for the role of Julia, was desperate to get the part. “I thought the script was
like nothing I’ve read before and I was really desperate to do it. I had that response you have
when you first start acting and auditioning for things and you think, please let me get this job. I
met up with Sam and auditioned properly for her and waited and waited with baited breath. Not
only did I love the script, I also loved Julia so much. The interesting thing about her is she treads a
line and she’s so dangerously attractive. She pushes the boundaries a lot of the time but actually
she’s just a really good soul and I could see right into that the first time I read it. Anyone else who
read for Julia probably felt the same.”
“Anne-Marie gave everything to being Julia”, says Taylor-Wood, “and she really understood the
delicate complications of her without going too far with it. Julia, from what I understand of her
and what I’ve read, was probably misunderstood in the era that she lived. If she’d been in this era
now, I think she’d have been my friend. She was this free-spirited lover of rock and roll and all
things fun and wild. I think in that era it was very difficult for her to live the way she wanted to,
and I think her environment probably suppressed her creative mind so she fed that into John. I
think Anne-Marie played that absolutely flawlessly.”
Unlike many of the cast and crew, Kristin Scott Thomas was not a Beatles fanatic before she came
on board to play John’s Aunt Mimi.
“I was never really that interested in ‘The Beatles’ as a phenomenon, which was probably a bit
stupid because they’ve had such a huge influence on pop music. Then I saw this documentary on
John Lennon, John Lennon in America, which made me really interested in him, and then this came
along so it was good timing.”
With her new found interest in the older Lennon, she found the story of how the boy became the
man in Greenhalgh’s script equally fascinating.
“I thought it was a really great story, a fabulous story and then I read a biography and dipped into
a few others and I just loved his rebellious side and the fact he came from a very unordinary
family, trying to be ordinary and then became such an extraordinary man himself; it was all very
interesting.”
Scott Thomas was also intrigued by the relationship between the sisters, Mimi and Julia, and the
profound effect it had on the young John being part of what some would describe as a ‘love
triangle’ between the three.
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“Mimi was the eldest of the sisters and had a real determined attitude in life. She had a very
protective nature as far as Julia was concerned but just didn’t know what to do with her – as far as
she was concerned, Julia was out of control. Mimi doesn’t approve of her lifestyle and John is just
torn between the two of them I think.”
Despite acknowledging Mimi’s toughness and determination, Kristin was eager for John’s Aunt not
to be portrayed as too harsh.
“I was very afraid they were going to turn her into this dry, mean, wicked witch person and I spoke
to Sam about this because I felt very strongly that there was a great deal of affection between the
two. I learnt that John Lennon and his aunt were in constant contact and spoke on the phone
once a week right up until he died, and they would send each other tapes. He sent Mimi a
machine for her to record messages for him to listen to, and he’d do the same so she would listen
to his. He’d also been trying to get her to move to America but she wouldn’t go, so I knew there
was something really loving between them.”
As Anne-Marie Duff explains, the relationship between the three characters is a powerful one but
one that most people with families can identify with in some shape or form. “The dynamic
between the three of them is brilliantly complicated in the way that every family is absolutely
screwed up, we’ve all got strange old relationships. But Mimi is convinced she’s doing the right
thing and it was a very different time in terms of people taking children away from people.
Basically Julia was living in a house with a man out of wedlock. For us now it’s nothing, there’s no
crime there, but in the 1950’s it couldn’t happen. So Mimi shouldn’t be judged harshly because
her heart is in the right place. John loved the bones of Mimi and it just shows you what a
magnificent presence she was in his life and what a mother figure she was. Mother in all but
name really, and that’s what’s so tough - he had two mothers and loved them equally I suspect in
different and varying ways.”
For Sam and producer Kevin Loader the roles of Mimi and Julia were central to the film. “In some
ways those two female parts are the core of the movie,” explains Loader, “so it was really
important to get those right. With Anne-Marie we kind of always knew it was her part anyway
and that she was such a brilliant actress. It was a thrill to have her around; she just brings a kind of
level of detail, commitment and performance that you can’t imagine when you read the words on
the page. I don’t think we even met anyone else. Kristin we were thrilled to get to play Aunt Mimi
because in some ways it’s a slightly different area than she’s tried before - playing an English
woman in that class and period, so I think that was interesting for her. Also playing somebody
who is so clearly in a parental role with a difficult teenager is something she hasn’t done before.
I’m very thankful that Kristin read the part and knew that actually there was a lot more to it than
some other people might have seen and brought all that knowledge to her performance. Apart
from the fact that she’s great fun and wonderful to be around, she lifts everybody’s game and
everybody wants to do their best work in front of Kristin - which is great.”
To complement the two most powerful women in John’s life, were the men who lived with them;
Julia’s common-law husband, Bobby Dykins and Mimi’s husband George Smith. Though relatively
small, both played influential roles in the young John’s life in different ways.
David Morrissey, star of the recent Red Riding Trilogy and numerous other TV dramas and films,
explains that although John initially sees Bobby as a threat, it’s really because he has reservations
about the new-found relationship between John and his mother and the potential
damage it could cause them both.
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Morrissey grew up in Liverpool so found the story particularly familiar as he explains;
‘The thing about growing up in Liverpool as a young man walking around the streets was that they
were the streets The Beatles had walked down. I knew the story really well so I tapped into it
again. I think, in the period this film deals with, his formative years, and the tragedy that happens
to him, we can see how that forged the character of the Lennon that we know. I think it’s a great
period to concentrate on and a beautifully written script that’s come from it.”
David Threlfall plays Mimi’s husband, John’s Uncle George Smith, whom John had a huge affection
and love for. When George died suddenly of a heart attack, the young teenager was devastated.
George left an important legacy as he bought John his first harmonica and harnessed his love of
music.
“Those two characters were absolutely essential”, explains Sam, “because really it was about one
man whose death facilitated John’s journey, and then another man being almost an obstacle in
front of where he wants to be. It was important to have someone as good as David Threlfall to
play Uncle George because his death is really what kicks us off onto John’s journey to find his
mother. Uncle George was the warmth and heart of that house, so you needed to feel his
humour and love for John, and his loss, in order for us to go on the next journey. Then there’s
Bobby, this charismatic sexy brute played beautifully by David Morrissey. There’s almost a rivalry
and jealousy between him and John, in a way they’re both competing for Julia’s love.”
Casting the Quarrymen
Finding the right boys to play ‘The Quarrymen’ was a delicate process and, as Sam Taylor Wood
explains, it was a not a case of finding lookalikes, it was more about finding people who could
embody the spirit of the boys and the band.
McCartney is played by 17 year old Thomas Brodie Sangster, (Love Actually, Nanny McPhee, The
Last Legion, Triston & Isolde). Although he originally went for the role of Lennon, he felt he had
more in common with the young McCartney. “I don’t really have the right features for Lennon,
the right nose or face so they called me back to read for Paul with Aaron and we did a couple of
scenes and after that they told me I’d got it. It was only afterwards that it kicked in, I’d have to
portray somebody who’s been in the public eye since he was fifteen and everyone knows him
really well. So you are restricted, you can’t make it your own. You can’t just do a scouse accent,
you’ve got to do a Paul McCartney scouse accent, you’ve got to do the right things with your eyes
and mouth and your eyebrows and so on. But it was something different I’ve never done before so
first of all it was a bit scary but once I’d got into it, it was great.”
Completing the line up of future Beatles featuring in the film is Sam Bell, a first time actor, who,
despite originally going for the part of Paul McCartney, was very excited to be cast as a young
George Harrison.
“There’s no film of him of that age so I really just had pictures to go by. I’m playing him when he
was 15 so I had to look quite young and make my voice quite high. I had to be George Harrison
mad, looking at everything he did, watching footage of how he played guitar and everything. But
it was fantastic and it just came naturally to me because he’s my favourite of The Beatles.”
Another key role was John Lennon’s best mate at school and beyond, Pete Shotton, played by
newcomer Josh Bolt. As a native Liverpudlian Josh had the advantage of a ready-made accent and
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a childhood surrounded by the history and culture of Lennon and The Beatles, but had little to go
on when researching his character Shotton.
“I looked on the internet to find out more about Pete and knew he’d written a book, so I found
out bits and pieces that way, but I also found out he was very private, so I didn’t manage to talk to
him. But I would still like to meet him at some point. So I suppose my portrayal of Pete is really as
John’s right hand man; whatever John seemed to do, Pete copied him, though John was a bit
cooler. I get the feeling that was what the relationship between them was like; they even had
their own language. They were really close, even when John hit the big time they stayed friends
right till the end.”
Taylor-Wood was delighted with the casting for the roles. “We had to make a big decision, we
couldn’t go down the lookalike road when we were casting. It was more important that someone
embodied the spirit of, and could really get into the world of Lennon, McCartney etc rather than
look identical. I’m really happy with the people we found; they were pretty spectacular. We were
dealing with actors who weren’t musicians and musicians who weren’t actors, so it was a
challenge, but a really fantastic one. I really loved working with them all, some of them are just
really talented and are going to move on from working on this film, it’s exciting to be a part of
that.”
As some of the boys playing band members already had musical experience, it was their acting
skills that needed honing. But for Aaron, one of the big challenges was learning to sing and play
the guitar from scratch, a process he began weeks before the film started shooting. “I worked
with our Music Tutor Ben Parker for about a month before we started working in the studio with
the boys. At the time all they were doing was recording the songs The Quarrymen had done with
the original instruments, the broom handle bass and washboard etc. And obviously these boys
were musicians and I wasn’t, so I was pretty nervous going into the studio. But Ben was fantastic
and made me feel more confident - he really looked after me in that respect. In the first studio
session I felt a bit nervous around the guys, having to go ahead and play the guitar and sing,
especially in front of people. But I knew it was just progress and at that stage we were only half
way through preparation, but it broke the ice to get out there and just do it.”
Johnson also got hooked on the music of the era. “The music was fantastic, Elvis and Buddy Holly,
Wanda Jackson; I love listening to the music and dancing to it. It’s such a good rock ‘n’ roll rhythm
I really enjoyed it; it was great fun. I actually kind of miss it, I really enjoyed the banter of the band
and also chilling out in the studio and messing around with instruments and having a giggle and a
sing.”
Shooting ‘Nowhere Boy’...the look of the film..
Sam wasted no time in enlisting top cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, (The Soloist, The No1
Ladies Detective Agency, Atonement, World Trade Center, The Hours, High Fidelity, Butterfly Kiss,
and many more), who has worked with her for over a decade on many of her projects including
Love You More, as Seamus explains.
“I’ve worked with Sam for about 12 years now and she’d always talked about moving into feature
films. There was talk of her working on another feature project while I was working with Anthony
Minghella in Botswana (on No1 Ladies Detective Agency) whom she was very close to. But
Anthony thought Sam should do a short film before embarking on a feature for various reasons,
one of which was seeing the whole mechanics of drama, but also as a way of helping the financing.
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So we made Love You More which was a great experience, and I think it was one of those films
that was perfect for the dimensions of the medium. I loved the short and that very quickly led on
to Nowhere Boy.”
Despite being scheduled to work on another film, fate stepped in and McGarvey became available,
as Sam explains. “It was a godsend that I had Seamus on this film because he was actually
attached to do a different film so I guilted him into doing it! It was the same as with Robert
(Bernstein), I kept phoning Seamus and saying ‘there’s no way you can’t do this, it’s my first film
and you love John Lennon; you can’t not do it!’”
As McGarvey says, having worked together for over a decade, they had an almost telepathic way
of communicating on set and off. “It’s strange really the way we work, Sam loves a very silent set,
so we communicate with sort of dolphin clicks to each other, it’s almost like a telepathic thing. I
know the sort of photography and lighting style she likes. We prepped a lot of it in advance so
when she sees something she doesn’t like if we’re setting up, she’ll let me know quickly; it’s nice
that we can work so wordlessly. Most days we were travelling to work and home again in the
same car, so having that opportunity to go through the script and plot the shot list for the next day
when we were sitting in a traffic jam was great. That way of working when you’re relaxing at the
end of the day when your mind is quite open is a nice way of establishing the next day’s work.”
As well as seamless collaboration on a practical level, creatively they both had very clear ideas on
how they wanted the film to look which wasn’t the gritty grey docu-drama style perhaps some
people would expect from a film about post war Liverpool, as Seamus explains.
“One thing we didn’t want to do was make a kitchen sink drama, just because we were depicting
post war Liverpool during the depression of the 50’s, we still wanted to give it an allure. John had
this fantastic energy and as a slingshot to send this man into the world he had to have something
visually evocative with a sexy feel to it and that’s something we played with in terms of the look of
the film.”
For the producers and Sam it was important to shoot as much of the film as possible in Liverpool
though one of the main problems was the transformation the city has undergone in the last 50
years or so. For producer Kevin Loader the biggest challenge was trying to film Liverpool as it
would have been in the late 50’s. As he explains, “it’s almost impossible now to get a shot of even
the Liver building because it’s hemmed in by beautiful new gleaming buildings some of which are
still under construction. Saying that, the neighbourhoods in Woolton where John grew up are
pretty leafy suburbs of Liverpool and are fundamentally unchanged – so we did manage to shoot
quite a lot of the childhood scenes around Allerton and Woolton.”
“The other glorious thing about Liverpool is that everybody there is very au fait with the story
which is both a good and a bad thing. It sometimes felt like making a film about the early church –
depending on who you talked to, you got the truth according to St. John or St. Mark because
everyone in Liverpool you meet has had a cousin who was a friend of either John or Paul or an
Auntie that went out with one of them when they were at school or whatever. Because of what
the Beatles became it’s a place of pilgrimage for people from across the world now; so I think it’s
right that the film made its own pilgrimage there.”
Perfectly complimenting the look of the film was the costume design, by Julian Day (Control), who
also wanted to create the feeling of the fun and vibrancy of 1950’s Liverpool rather than the dull,
old look clothes can have in period pieces. “I read the script and started doing research, first of all
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about 1950s clothing, Lennon and ‘The Quarrymen’, then narrowing the search to Liverpool in the
1950s. There’s nothing wrong with duller colours, but this is a film about rock’n roll and about
sexiness, it’s a fun exciting drama and I didn’t want it to look rain-sodden and dreary, which is
sometimes how 1950’s films are seen.”
He also had specific ideas of how Mimi and Julia would look and how their clothes would mirror
their contrast in character. “We talked at great length in prep and talked to Sam and Seamus and
decided that Mimi’s colours were blues, greens, browns and greys. The way I saw it she was the
40’s going into the 50’s and Julia was the 50’s going into the 60’s, wearing lots of colours and
shades of red. We also liked the idea that when we see John at home he’s wearing almost 1940’s
clothes with a bit of influence of the 50’s in blue and greys and greens. Then when he meets his
mum she not only influences his musical taste but also his clothes sense, so there’s a shift in
colour change and tone from his first meeting with his mum right through to the end.”
When it came to deciding who would edit the film Sam looked no further than another protégée
of Anthony Minghella. Lisa Gunning, who also cut Sam’s short, Love You More, says Minghella was
a huge influence. “As a human being Anthony was a mentor on every part of my life, he taught
me an enormous amount about film, how to watch things and experience things. He made me
realise that as long as you are open enough you can pretty much manipulate anything to be
anything you want in the cutting room. He had an incredible way of shaping and controlling film. I
learnt everything from him.”
Born largely out of the mutual trust and love for their friend, Minghella, Sam and Lisa had a real
connection while editing the film as Lisa explains. “Sam is incredibly generous, she has a
wonderful way of making you feel free and provided it’s not out of the realms of what her vision
for the film is, she’s very open to suggestion. So I’ve really felt like I can get on with it, push the
film as far as possible and be rigorous with the material and show her the result of it. Telepathy is
part of the equation, we’ve got extremely similar tastes and I think she trusts me and the fact we
have similar instincts on how the material should be treated.”
On finishing the film Taylor-Wood has no doubt about whom it will be in honour of. “Without
sounding too kooky, Lisa and I have had lots of moments where we can feel Anthony’s presence if
you like. I think it’s because he’d be pretty happy about the two of us working together and he’d
be happy to feel that he still has a part of it in a way, so I am absolutely dedicating this film to
him.”
When asked the inevitable question as to what ardent Beatles fans will think of the film Kevin
Loader is quick to point out - “If you’re a John Lennon fan you’re going to be automatically
interested in this film. What I would say is if you’re not a Lennon fan you’ll be just as interested. I
think it’s about a very human predicament and a very interesting human situation about two
women and a boy and the claims on that boy, the claims on one another and the emotional
luggage that goes with all of that. I think that makes it a very compelling story, whether the boy is
John Lennon or not. The fact that the boy involved is Lennon just makes it even more interesting
because we know what he went on to do and become. But unlike a pure musical biopic, it’s not
trying to tell you the career history of somebody. It’s trying to give you a very vivid sense of the
emotional vertebrae that must have formed inside the man who became John Lennon while he
was a teenager.”
Head of FilmFour, Tessa Ross, is confident Sam Taylor-Wood has a long future as a director ahead
of her and sure that, as a fellow colleague and friend of the Late Anthony Minghella, he would be
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incredibly proud of what she has achieved. “I think he would have thought she’d asked all the
right questions and gone on all the right journeys, he was devoted to her and thought she was
wonderful. It’s a really great shame that we’ve gone on this journey without him being able to be
engaged with it but I think, looking to the future, she can do anything she wants. She has the
energy, the foresight and the ambition but more than anything the curiosity to go anywhere she
wants.”
As a friend and colleague for over 12 years, Seamus McGarvey has nothing but admiration for
Taylor-Wood. “All the time I’ve known Sam she’s had this verve and energy, this incredible
forward motion and artistic dynamism, that I think she’s probably had all her life. Though this has
maybe been exacerbated or underlined by the cancer battles she had some years back, I just know
that my experience of working with her is that she is this incredible whirlwind of creative energy.
She really seizes the day and you feel like she’s hurtling forward; it radiates to other people and
people get a lot of energy from her. It’s quite amazing to witness.”
On completion of her first feature, Sam feels a great sense of achievement, “I’m so proud of what
we’ve all done to make this film, it’s a monumentally collaborative experience. I feel like we’ve
done what I set out to do for the film and there’s nothing I would have changed about it at the
moment if feels as strong as any film I could have made, so I‘m really happy with it.”
NOWHERE BOY is an Ecosse Films production in association with Film4, the UK Film Council’s
Premiere Fund, NorthWest Vision and Media, Lip Sync Productions and Aver Media. The script was
developed with the support of the UK Film Council’s Development Fund and Icon Film Distribution
will release the film in the UK on 26 December 2009. HanWay Films have international rights. Icon
Film Distribution will release the film in the UK on 26 December 2009. The Weinstein Company are
the US distributor.
________________________________________________________________________________
Aaron Johnson
Born and raised in High Wycombe, England, Aaron Johnson attended the prestigious Jackie Palmer
Stage School.
At the age of 18, Johnson already has much experience and success under his belt. He played a
young Edward Norton in the Oscar nominated and award-winning film The Illusionist, directed by
Neil Burger. Johnson also starred alongside Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in Shanghai Nights, as
well as The Thief Lord with Caroline Goodall and Jasper Harris, and independent UK film Dummy.
Johnson was last seen in Paramount Pictures’ coming of age comedy, Angus, Thongs and Perfect
Snogging by British director Gurinder Chadha. He has also appeared in several popular UK
television series, including Feather Boy, Family Business, Nearly Famous and Talk To Me.
His next release is set to be The Greatest, starring opposite Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon.
Aaron recently finished filming Kick Ass, Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of the Mark Millar comic
book playing the lead role opposite Nicolas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
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Anne-Marie Duff
Anne-Marie Duff is an actress whose work spreads extensively over screen and stage. Anne-Marie
took the National Theatre by storm in 2007 in the title role of Marianne Elliott's revival of ‘Saint
Joan’ for which she won awards from the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, The South Bank
Awards, The Critic Circle Awards and was nominated for an Olivier Award. She was also nominated
for an Ian Charleson award for her Cordelia in Richard Eyre's ‘King Lear’ at the National Theatre
and an Olivier for Howard Davies' ‘Collected Stories’ in the West End. Other notable theatre
credits include ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ (Peter Gill) at the Donmar Warehouse and ‘War and
Peace’ (Shared Experience).
BAFTA nominated in 2005 for Shameless for her memorable role as Fiona in the Channel 4 series,
this role also saw her win a Best Actress IFTA the year before. Two years later in 2007 she was
again nominated for Best Actress BAFTA for her remarkable portrayal of Elizabeth I in Elizabeth The Virgin Queen. Other television credits include Charles II (Joe Wright), Dr Zhivago (Giacomo
Camtiotti) and Sinners (Aisling Walsh) for which she won a Best Actress awards at the Monte Carlo
and Shanghai film festivals in 2002.
Anne-Marie recently finished filming Margot the Amanda Coe film about one of the great dancers
of our time– Margot Fonteyn, directed by Otto Bathurst. Her unforgettable portrayal of Margaret
in Peter Mullan's Magdalene Sisters helped the film win the Best Film award in Venice and the
Critics Choice at Toronto.
In 2006 in Dominic Savage's Born Equal Anne-Marie played Sophie, a heavily pregnant woman
fleeing her violent partner. She starred in French Film with Hugh Bonneville and Douglas Henshall
which won Best Film at the Monte Carlo Film Festival and in John Crowley's film Is Anybody There?
with Michael Caine and David Morrissey. She has worked alongside Helen Mirren and Christopher
Plummer in the soon to be released The Last Station.
Kristin Scott-Thomas
Award winning actress Kristin Scott Thomas has become internationally renowned for her talent,
elegance and commitment to her craft. Never shying away from challenging roles and determined
not to repeat herself, Scott Thomas' body of work is an extraordinary collection of acclaimed film,
television and theatre performances.
Following Nowhere Boy, Scott Thomas will be seen in Partir which had its North American
premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival; she has received rave reviews for her
performance and the film has soared at the French Box office.
By the end of 2009, Scott Thomas will have completed an additional three films: Sous ton Emprise
for director Lola Doillon, Une Femme Parfaite for director Alain Corneau and Elle s'appelait Sarah
for Gilles Paque Brenner.
In 2008, she starred in Phillipe Claudel's French language film, I've Loved You So Long for which she
received a Golden Globe, a Cesar and Bafta nomination, as well as winning the European Film
Academy’s Best Actress award and the London Film Critics award for British Actress of the Year.
On stage, Scott Thomas made her Broadway debut last fall in The Seagull in a performance for
which she received outstanding reviews - Variety called her "transfixing", the NY Times
"excellent". For the play's run at London's Royal Court Theatre, she won the Olivier Award for
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"Best Actress."
Scott Thomas first won over audiences and critics worldwide with her Academy-award nominated
performance in the late Anthony Minghella's The English Patient, where she starred opposite
Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche. Of her performance, Kenneth Turan wrote, Scott Thomas
"gives a gorgeous and magnetic performance that adds unanticipated new dimensions to an
already formidable talent." For her performance she was honoured by the National Board of
Review, and was nominated for a Golden Globe, the BAFTA, and the Screen Actors Guild Award.
Making her U.S. film debut in Prince's Under a Cherry Moon, Scott Thomas went onto receive great
acclaim in Mike Newell's Four Weddings and a Funeral, for which she won a BAFTA award for Best
Supporting Actress. Other notable credits include: Philip Haas' Angels and Insects; Richard
Loncraine's Richard III; Brian DePalma's Mission Impossible; Robert Redford's The Horse
Whisperer; Sydney Pollack's Random Hearts; Irwin Winkler's Life as a House; Roman Polanski's
Bitter Moon; Paul Schrader's The Walker and Justin Chadwick's The Other Boleyn Girl, Easy Virtue,
and Confessions of a Shopholic.
In 2001, Scott Thomas was part of the ensemble for Robert Altman's acclaimed, Oscar-winning
film winning film, Gosford Park. The cast, which also included Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren,
Michael Gambon, Ryan Phillippe, Derek Jacobi, Alan Bates, Emily Watson and Bob Balaban, went
on to garner numerous awards and nomination including The SAG and Broadcast Film Critics’
Awards for Best Ensemble.
Fluent in French and having been a resident of Paris since she was 19, Scott Thomas has appeared
in numerous French films, including Guillaume Canet's Ne le Dis à Personne (Tell No One) Francis
Veber's Le Doublure (The Valet) and Pascal Bonitzer's Petites Coupures (Small Cuts). In television,
Kristin Scott Thomas has starred in a number of admired mini-series and made for TV movies
including Gulliver's Travels; Belle Èpoque; Body and Soul; Weep No More, My Lady and The Secret
Life of Ian Fleming.
Additional theatre credits include revivals such as Pirandello's As You Desire Me and Chekhov's
Three Sisters for London's Playhouse Theatre.
Scott Thomas was born in Southwest England, and in her teens enrolled in drama school at Paris's
École Nationale des Arts et Technique de Théâtre.
David Morrissey
Born in Liverpool, David Morrissey studied at RADA in London. Upon graduation he appeared in
various critically acclaimed television dramas such as Our Mutual Friend, Clocking Off, Holding On
(which earned him a prestigious RTS nomination), the six part BBC political drama State of Play, (a
role for which he received a BAFTA nomination,) and one of Channel Four’s most controversial
dramas The Deal, in which he played Gordon Brown (directed by Stephen Frears). He
subsequently won an RTS Award for his depiction of Brown. In 2006, audiences saw David in Viva
Blackpool, a 90 minute programme for BBC1 based on his character in Blackpool, a hugely popular
six-part BBC musical drama broadcast in October and November 2005, and David received the
Best Television Actor Award at the Arena Awards. Most recently he was seen in Red Riding, a dark
and powerful trilogy of interlinking films adapted from David Peace’s novels.
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His film work includes Hilary & Jackie, Some Voices, Born Romantic, Captain Correlli’s Mandolin,
Miramax’s Derailed, Stephen Woolley’s Stoned, The Reaping, The Waterhorse: Legend of the Deep,
The Other Boleyn Girl, and more recently Is Anybody There? alongside Michael Caine and Leslie
Phillips.
David has his own production company, Tubedale Films which co-produced Patrice Leconte’s film,
L’Homme Du Train, starring Johnny Hallyday and Jean Rochefort.
David Threlfall
Probably best known for his role as Frank Gallagher in Channel 4’s long running comedy series
Shameless, David Threlfall is one of the most popular actors in the UK today. He’s gained many
credits for the role including Best Comedy Performance 2006, and Best Actor at the RTS Television
Awards 2006.
His other TV roles included Keith Moran in Spooks for the BBC, but his groundbreaking TV role was
as Smike in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby in 1983, for which he was nominated for
an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Special. This was a part David first
played to great acclaim at the RSC in Trevor Nunn’s production of the same name for which he
was nominated for a Tony as Best Featured Actor in 1982.
His other theatre parts include Bolingbroke in ‘Richard II’, and Orgon in Tartuffe both at the
National Theatre. David’s performance as Michael in ‘Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me’ at the
Ambassadors Theatre in 2006 earned him Best Actor nomination for the Olivier Awards.
Threlfall’s film credits include The Russia House, Master and Commander: The Far Side of The
World, Hot Fuzz, and Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
Thomas Brodie Sangster
Thomas was born in London in 1990. He has appeared in various TV programmes, including
Doctor Who and Hitler: The Rise of Evil as the young Hitler. His breakthrough film role came in
Richard Curtis’ Love, Actually as budding young drummer and romantic Sam, alongside Liam
Neeson. Other film roles followed including Tristan and Isolde, Nanny McPhee, The Last Legion and
Pinocchio Lucignolo. Thomas has most recently featured in Bright Star by Jane Campion.
Josh Bolt
Josh started acting aged 13 when he mistakenly got sent to an audition for Much Ado About
Nothing at the Liverpool Playhouse, and has never looked back. His part as Pete Shotton in
Nowhere Boy is his second feature film role. His first was in The Be All And End All also starring Liza
Tarbuck, which is currently doing the rounds in the Chicago, Toronto, Seville and Rome Film
Festivals and is due for release early next year.
Sam Bell
Sam Bell was born in 1991 in Crewe and lives in Winsford, Cheshire. Aside from doing drama at
school, his part as George Harrison in Nowhere Boy marks his first acting role. He is a talented
musician however and started playing in a band at the age of 12 covering songs from the Beatles
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and The Kinks. His current band is called ‘The Targets’ and Sam is looking forward to combining
his music skills with acting further in the future.
Ophelia Lovibond
Before moving into film Ophelia's first break came on television at the age of 12 in The Wilsons,
after which she played Alice Langdon in Loving You (Granada), followed by the regular role of
Rachel Barton in the series Single (Tiger Aspect) and Jade in Holby City (BBC). This was followed by
roles in Nathan Barley (Talkback TV), Messiah (BBC), Lewis (Granada) and most recently, the
regular role of Daisy in the series FM (Granada).
Lovibond made her feature film debut as Bet in Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist.
Over the past year, since graduating with a 1st at Sussex University, Ophelia has completed a
number of feature films, including Shadows In the Sun, London Boulevard, and Chatroom alongside
Aaron Johnson. She is currently shooting Noel Clark's new film 4321 in which she plays ‘Shannon’,
one of four lead roles, which is due for release next year.
Biographies
Sam Taylor-Wood - DIRECTOR
Sam Taylor-Wood was born in London in 1967, she graduated from Goldsmiths College and was
identified as a member of the Young British Artist’s movement. She has had numerous worldwide
group and solo exhibitions, including being nominated for The Turner Prize (1998) and winning the
Most Promising Young Artist, at the Venice Biennale (1997) Solo exhibitions include Kunsthalle
Zurich (1997), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek (1997), Hirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden, Washington DC (1999), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid
(2000), Hayward Gallery, London (2002), State Russian Museum, St Petersburg (2004), MCA,
Moscow (2004), BALTIC, Gateshead (2006), MCA Sydney (2006) MoCA Cleveland (2007) and the
Contemporary Art Museum, Houston (2007).
In 2008, Taylor-Wood directed her first narrative short film Love You More written by Patrick
Marber and produced by Anthony Minghella, which was screened in Main Competition for the
Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It was also nominated for a BAFTA in 2009. Nowhere Boy is
her feature film directorial debut.
Matt Greenhalgh - SCREENPLAY
Matt Greenhalgh’s writing career began in his native Manchester where he wrote for magazines
and newspapers, before embarking on screenwriting. He wrote first for TV, among others, Cold
Feet and Clocking Off, for which he was individually nominated for a BAFTA for Best New Writer.
Matt’s first feature screenplay was Control about the life of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis,
produced by Orian Williams and directed by Anton Corbijn. His screenplay won him the
prestigious Carl Foreman BAFTA award. It was selected as the opening film for Director’s
Fortnight Cannes Film Festival 2007, was Matt subsequently won the Silver Hugo for Best
Screenplay at the Chicago Film Festival 2007, and was nominated for a BIFA for Best Screenplay.
Matt has just completed production on his directorial debut, Acid Burn, a short film which he
also wrote, starring Agyness Deyn and Matthew Beard.
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Seamus McGarvey – DIRECTOR OF PHOTGRAPHY
Seamus McGarvey BSC, born 29 June 1967 in Armagh, Northern Ireland, began his career as a still
photographer before attending film school at the University of Westminster in London.
On graduating in 1988 he began shooting short films and documentaries, including Skin, which was
nominated for a Royal Television Society Cinematography Award, and Atlantic, directed by Sam
Taylor-Wood, nominated for the 1998 Turner Prize.
In 2004 he was awarded the Royal Photographic Society’s prestigious Lumiere medal for
contributions to the art of cinematography. His cinematography credits include World Trade
Center; The Hours, for which he earned the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best
Technical/Artistic Achievement; Sahara, for which he won the Irish Film and Television Award for
Best Cinematography; Along Came Polly, High Fidelity, Enigma, The War Zone; Butterfly Kiss; The
Actors; A Map of the World; Charlotte’s Web and Atonement, for which he received an Academy
Award nomination (2008), an ASC Best Cinematography nomination, a BAFTA nomination (2008),
the Technical Achievement award in the Evening Standard British Film Awards for 2007 and the
2008 Irish Film and Television Award for Best Cinematography.
Most recently he shot The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency directed by the late Anthony Minghella
and The Soloist for director Joe Wright in Los Angeles.
Douglas Rae - PRODUCER
Douglas Rae formed Ecosse Films in 1988 to produce documentaries and arts programmes and in
1997 he executive produced his first feature film, Mrs. Brown, starring Dame Judi Dench. The film
went on to win twelve major international awards including a BAFTA nomination for Producer of
the Year and two Oscar nominations. His other production credits include Charlotte Gray starring
Cate Blanchett, Becoming Jane starring Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy, Brideshead Revisited
starring Matthew Goode and Ben Whishaw and The Water Horse, starring Ben Chaplin, David
Morrissey and Emily Watson.
Alongside Nowhere Boy Douglas has two further films currently in post-production. Pelican Blood
is based on the novel by Cris Freddi and directed by Karl Golden (The Honeymooners), the film
stars up-and-coming actors Harry Treadaway (Control) and Emma Booth (Hippie Hippie Shake).
Also in post-production is Black Death, a medieval chiller starring Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne
(Tess of the D’Urbervilles).
Douglas was named Scottish Filmmaker of the Year by Scottish Screen (1997), won the Scottish
Icon Award for Innovation (2004) and was presented with the Silver Thistle Award for Outstanding
Contribution to Scotland (2005). He was a member of the BAFTA Film Committee from 2007- 2009
and is currently on the board of Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres charity.
Robert Bernstein - PRODUCER
Robert Bernstein joined Ecosse Films in 1994 to develop the drama department and subsequently
became a director and partner in the company. Having developed the script for Mrs. Brown
(1997), which starred Dame Judi Dench and went on to win twelve major international awards and
two Academy Award nominations, Robert’s next role was to Executive Produce Charlotte Gray,
starring Cate Blanchett.
21
His production credits include Wilderness, about six young offenders who are ruthlessly hunted
down by a mysterious killer whilst team-building on a remote island; Becoming Jane, starring Anne
Hathaway and James McAvoy, The Water Horse, starring David Morrissey and Emily Watson and
Brideshead Revisited starring Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon and Matthew Goode.
Alongside Nowhere Boy Robert has two further films currently in post-production. Pelican Blood is
based on the novel by Cris Freddi and directed by Karl Golden (The Honeymooners), and currently
in post-production is Black Death, a medieval chiller starring Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne (Tess
of the D’Urbervilles).
Robert has executive produced many hours of primetime television drama including the hugely
successful BBC One series Monarch of the Glen, as well as McCready & Daughter; a two-part
thriller Amnesia starring John Hannah for ITV; an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel
Under the Greenwood Tree starring Keeley Hawes and more recently My Boy Jack a two hour film
about Rudyard Kipling and his son Jack during WW1, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Kim Cattrall for
ITV1.
Kevin Loader - PRODUCER
Kevin Loader is one of the UK’s most established film producers. His most recent film was
Armando Iannucci’s political comedy In The Loop, starring James Gandolfini, Tom Hollander, Peter
Capaldi and Gina McKee. The next film to be released will be Sam Taylor-Wood’s Nowhere Boy.
He has a production company with directing partner Roger Michell, Free Range Films, for which
Michell has directed Venus from a script by Hanif Kureishi – for which Peter O’Toole achieved
Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for best actor; Enduring Love, starring Daniel Craig and
Samantha Morton, and The Mother, also written by Kureishi and starring Craig, which won the
Europa Cinemas Label Prize at Cannes in 2004.
Loader’s other recent productions include Alex de la Iglesia’s The Oxford Murders, Julian Jarrold’s
Brideshead Revisited (also with Ecosse) and Nicholas Hytner and Alan Bennett’s The History Boys.
His other notable credits include producing Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, which starred Nic Cage and
Penelope Cruz, and English Civil War drama To Kill a King.
Loader began his career in 1982 at the BBC, producing and directing documentaries, arts
programmes, and television drama. His BBC productions included the award-winning mini-series
Clarissa, The Buddha of Suburbia, and Holding On. Loader has also worked for Sony Pictures
Entertainment and Le Studio Canal Plus as Manager of their London-based joint venture, The
Bridge. He is Chairman of the Cheltenham Screenwriters’ Festival.
Forthcoming productions include another Roger Michell / Hanif Kureishi collaboration, Weekend,
as well as films written by Peter Berry, Richard Nelson and Emily Young.
End Roller Credits
Cast in order of appearance
John
Mimi
Uncle George
Pete
Marie
Marie’s friend
AARON JOHNSON
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS
DAVID THRELFALL
JOSH BOLT
OPHELIA LOVIBOND
KERRIE HAYES
22
Schoolmistress
Pobjoy
Reverend
Julia
Stan
Young John
Julia (aged 8)
Jackie (aged 6)
Bobby
Teacher
Cunard Yank
Boy with knife
Fishwick
Postman
Guitar shop guy
Len
Rod
Eric
Nigel
Colin
Ivan
Paul
George
Alf
Cavern bouncer
Café waitress
Percy Phillips
Production Manager
1st Assistant Director
Script Supervisor
Location Managers
Art Director
Hairdresser
Sound Mixers
Post-Production Supervisor
Supervising Sound Editor
Re-Recording Mixer
2nd Assistant Director
Crowd 2nd Assistant Director
3rd Assistant Director
Production Co-ordinator
Assistant Production Co-ordinator
Production Accountant
Assistant Production Accountant
Accounts Assistant
Trainee Assistant Production Accountant
Assistants to Sam Taylor-Wood
Assistant to Robert Bernstein & Douglas Rae
Assistant to Kevin Loader
Production Assistant
FT2 Production Trainees
Casting Assistants
ANGELA WALSH
PAUL RITTER
RICHARD SYMS
ANNE-MARIE DUFF
JAMES JOHNSON
ALEX AMBROSE
ANGELICA JOPLING
ABBY GREENHALGH
DAVID MORRISSEY
RICHARD TATE
CHRISTOPHER COGHILL
BEN SMITH
ANDREW BUCHAN
BAILLIE WALSH
SIMON LOWE
FRAZER BIRD
JAMES JACK BENTHAM
JACK McELHONE
DANIEL ROSS
SAM WILMOTT
JOHN COLLINS
THOMAS BRODIE SANGSTER
SAM BELL
COLIN TIERNEY
NIGEL TRAVIS
LIZZIE HOPLEY
DAN ARMOUR
JENNIFER WYNNE
ALEXANDER OAKLEY
SUSANNA LENTON
JASON WHEELER
CHRIS WEBB
CHARMIAN ADAMS
PAUL MOONEY
MARTIN TREVIS, C.A.S.
JOHN MIDGLEY
LOUISE SEYMOUR
SIMON CHASE
PAUL COTTERELL
MARK HOPKINS
BRYN LAWRENCE
LAURA WINDEBANK
MONA BENJAMIN
KELLY TAYLOR-DIAS
JOHN MILES
DAN BUDD
HELEN BINGHAM
ELIZABETH BRIZZELL
ZELDA PERKINS
BEN SPICER
ANNA GREEN-ARMYTAGE
LISA WILLIAMS
ANNA WILTON
RICHARD ROGAN
SHEERIN KHOSROWSHAHI-MIANDOAB
KHARMEL COCHRANE
ROBERT STERNE
23
Floor Runners
Runner Drivers
FT2 Script Supervisor Trainee
Choreographer
Dialogue Coach
Tutors
Script Researcher
Assistant Location Managers
Unit Managers
Locations Scout
Health and Safety Officers
Focus Puller
Clapper Loader
‘A’ Camera Trainee
‘B’ Camera Trainee
FT2 Camera Trainees
Video Operators
Camera Operator / Steadicam
‘B’ Camera Operators
‘B’ Camera Focus Pullers
‘B’ Camera Clapper Loaders
Gaffer
Best Boy
Electricians
Key Grips
Grip Trainee
Assistant Art Director
Standby Art Director / Graphic Designer
Set Decorator
Production Buyer
Art Department Assistant
Art Department Trainee
Prop Master
Chargehand Standby Props
Standby Props
Dressing Props
Storyboard Artist
DEXTER BRYANT
GARETH EDWARDS
CATHY LORIMER
DEVIS DAMONTE
JOSS SPRY
AMANDA DUDLEY
SARAH KENYON
JOSEY McNAMARA
ALEX JEFFREY
BEN QUIRK
ERIKA ZECKSER OWEN
LES CHILD
WILLIAM CONACHER
CAROLYN ALLEN
KAREN CARR
ROSALIE CAREW
MICHELLE PIANCA
TOM WOODS
MARC PRICE
MARK WALLEDGE
ANDREW HOLT
DAVID KING TAYLOR
ANNE SHANLEY
JENNIE PADDON
DAVID MACKIE
CHRIS HAYDEN
LAURENCE WRIGHT
WILLIAM MILMAN
DANIEL WEST
DASH LILLEY
DYLAN JONES
PETER ROBERTSON
PETE BATTEN
HARRY BOWERS
RAWDON HAYNE
AXEL ULRICH
BARNY CROCKER
KATHERINE FILBY
ALISON LAI
LEE WALTERS
PAUL SHARP
PETER HARRIS
TERENCE ROBERTS
DAVE MAUND
GARY HUTCHINGS
SIMON MUIR
MARK MILSOME
CARLOS DE CARVALHO
OLLY TELLET
CHRIS DODDS
JON HURLEY
IAIN MACKAY
ADRIAN MACKAY
ADAM WALKER
JAMES COLLINS
TIM BLAKE
BARB HERMAN-SKELDING
KIM FAHEY
ANNA THOMAS
JENNI CANWELL
COLIN MUTCH
BRADLEY TORBETT
RICHIE MAGENNIS
MARK GEESON
MARK REYNOLDS
JONNY MEAKIN
24
Assistant Costume Designer
Wardrobe Supervisor
Standby Wardrobe
Wardrobe Trainee
UK Film Council Wardrobe Trainee
Hair & Makeup Artist
Makeup Trainee
Construction Managers
Construction Supervisor
Carpenters
Supervising Painter
Painters
Stagehands
Standby Carpenters
Standby Painters
HOD Rigger
Sound Maintenance
FT2 Sound Trainee
1st Assistant Editor
Additional 1st Assistant Editor
Assistant Editor
FT2 Editing Trainees
SHAIDA DAY
JANE MARCANTONIO
LAURA SMITH
ANNA REYNOLDS
CHARLES ADESANYA
LESLEY SMITH
HEATHER MANSON
STUART WATSON
DOMINIC PIKE
LEIGH THURBON
CHRIS BROUGH
GAVIN HOSLER
CHRIS WHITE
DAVE HAYNES
PAUL BALE
JOHN HAYNES
STEVE MARQUISS
EDDIE O’NEIL
NEIL ROBERTSON
TOM HIGGINS
JOSH JONES
LISA COLLINS
MARY-PAT SHEAHAN
GRAHAM BAKER
SIMON BYSSHE
GEORGE TREVIS
DASH MASON-MALIK
STEVE HAREN
BILLY CAMPBELL
MARK KEADY
SIMON BROOKS
EVE DOHERTY
Stills Photographer
Unit Publicist
EPK Director
EPK Producer
LIAM DANIEL
CHARLES McDONALD
ROSS CLARKE
TRACEY LARCOMBE
Stunt Co-ordinator
Stunt Rigger
Stunt Performers
ANDY BENNETT
DAVID REED
ROB COOPER
ADAM KIRLEY
BELINDA McGINLEY
GORDON SEED
Post Production at LipSync Post
Senior Post Producer
DI at LipSync Post
Colourist
Assistant Colourist
Supervisor
Senior D-Lab Operator
D-Lab Operators
LISA JORDAN
STUART FYVIE
SCOTT GOULDING
JAMES CLARKE
DANIEL TOMLINSON
CHRIS BENTLEY
ALBERTO BURON
25
ROB BROWN
TONY O’HARA
CAVIN DEMPSEY
PETER TAYLOR
Sound mixed at LipSync Post
Additional Re-Recording Mixer
Assistant Re-Recording Mixer
Sound Editorial at Soundelux London
Sound Effects Editor
Sound Consultant
Foley Editor
Foley recorded at Universal Sound
Foley Mixers
Foley Artists
ADR Voice Casting
Teenage ADR Crowd
JAMES HARRISON
BEN TAT
JAMES HARRISON
EDDY JOSEPH
KEVIN PENNEY
PHILL BARRETT
SIMON TRUNDLE
PAUL HANKS
IAN WAGGOTT
VANESSA BAKER
EVERYMAN THEATRE, LIVERPOOL
Titles by LipSync Post
HOWARD WATKINS
JULIA HALL
PETER DICKINSON
OANA ELISEI
Visual Effects by LipSync Post
Visual Effects Supervisor
Visual Effects Producer
Head of Visual Effects
Digital Compositors
Senior Systems Engineer
Systems Engineer
Technical Support
Post Production Accountant
Unit Driver to Kristin Scott Thomas
Unit Driver to David Morrissey
Unit Drivers
Facilities Drivers
Unit Medics
Chef
Assistant Chefs
For Ecosse Films
Financial Controller
Assistant Development Producer
Office Manager
Head of Legal
For UK Film Council
Head of Premiere Fund
Creative Co-ordinators
ANGELA ROSE
SAMANTHA TRACEY
STEFAN DRURY
LUKE BUTLER
STEPHANIE KELLY
BLAKE WINDER
PHILIPPE LUDVIG
JON STANLEY
YANNI GOUDETSIDIS
RICK WHITE
MATT FOSTER
LAURA DUBSKY
JOHN O’LONE
MAXINE DAVIS
STEVE COOKE
TERRY COLLINS
ALAN BRISTOW
BRIAN KELLY
PETER SOTERIOU
DAVE CARTER
DAVE FISHER
TATYANA GENOVA
ELTON FARLA
JON CARTER
CLYDE LANE
TERRY PASKINS
STEVE JARVIS
JAMIE ATKINS
JEANINE EAST
NICOLA STEAN
SOPHIE FALKNER
EMMA STANYER
SALLY CAPLAN
AARON ANDERSON
NICK ATKINSON
26
SYMON BUTCHER
DAVID GROSE
JIMMY COUTTS
JAMES OTT
MARTYN FOARD
DAVE NICHOLAS
KATE BAILEY
JOHN LANE
Head of Business Affairs
Head of Production Finance
Head of Production
WILL EVANS
VINCE HOLDEN
FIONA MORHAM
For HanWay Films
THORSTEN SCHUMACHER
SOFIA NEVES
JONATHAN LYNCH-STAUNTON
MATTHEW BAKER
RICHARD MANSELL
JAN SPIELHOFF
For Film4
Head of Development
Head of Production
Head of Business Affairs
For Northwest Vision and Media
Head of Film
Liverpool Film Office
Legal Services
For Lip Sync Productions
For Bus Stop Films
Associate Producer
Camera Equipment
Originated on Motion Picture Film
Lighting Equipment
Bond Company
Auditors
Production Legal Services
Insurance Brokers
Legal Advisor to Aver Media
Negative Checks and Script
Publicity
Accommodation
Accounts Services
Action Vehicles
Armourers
Caterers
Crowd Caterers
Costume Supplies
Facilities
Lighting Balloons
KATHERINE BUTLER
TRACEY JOSEPHS
HARRY DIXON
TARA COOK
KEVIN BELL
LYNN SAUNDERS
NATALIE BASS for
LEE AND THOMPSON
PETER HAMPDEN
JAYNIE MILLER
PANAVISION
KODAK
FUJIFILM
PANALUX
FILM FINANCES LTD
SHIPLEYS LLP
SARA CURRAN
DEREK TOWNSHEND & SARAH FAHY
TOTALLY ENTERTAINMENT
DAVID QULI
WIGGIN LLP
TONIA COHEN
CAPELLO MEDIA SOLUTIONS
PREMIER PR
BIG CITY RESERVATIONS
WEST TREND APARTMENTS
SARGENT-DISC
1st POSITION VEHICLES
BICKERS ACTION
BAPTY & CO
J & J INTERNATIONAL
BIG PORTION LOCATION CATERING
RED CHUTNEY
TELE-CATER
ANGELS THE COSTUMIERS
CARLO MANZI
COSPROPS
MOVIE TONE FROCKS
MOVIE MAKERS
DIRECT FILM
AIRSTAR
27
Location Facilities and Supplies
Minibuses
Photocopiers
Production Mobiles, Data Cards & Walkie Talkies
Wig Supplies
Plant Hire
Laboratory
Laboratory Contact
Post Production Script
Music Director
Music Producers
Recording Producer
Vocal & Instrumental Tutor
& Arranger
MAKIN MOVIES
SPOTLESS LOCATIONS
MK TRAVEL
TCE DANWOOD
AUDIOLINK
ALEX ROUSE WIGS
CHARLES WILSON
DELUXE LONDON
CLIVE NOAKES
FATTS
JOHN GOSLING
EMRE RAMAZANOGLU
BEN PARKER
EMRE RAMAZANOGLU
BEN PARKER
Musicians (The Nowhere Boys)
Vocals & Guitar AARON JOHNSON
SAM BELL
Washboard WILL FRY
Piano & Vocals SAM SWALLOW
Drums EMRE RAMAZANOGLU
Guitar STEPHEN HODD
Guitar, Banjo & Vocals BEN PARKER
Piano NAT WOODCOCK
Tea Chest Bass & Guitar JIMMY SIMS
Guitar & Banjo PATRICK MURDOCH
Recorded at
Assistant Engineers
Music/Audio Restoration
Music Editor
Recorded at
Orchestrated & Conducted by
Recording Engineer
Guitar
Orchestra Contractor
ASSAULT AND BATTERY
CATHERINE MARKS
SEAN COLLINS
ANDREA CONTINO
MATHEW LANE
PETER CLARKE
ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS
NICK INGHAM
ANDY DUDMAN
SIMON ROGERS
ISOBEL GRIFFITHS
Wild One
(John Greenan/Johnny O’Keefe/ Dave Owens)
Published by ©1958 MPL Communications Inc.
Melody Lane Publications, Inc.
Performed by Jerry Lee Lewis
Licensed from Licensemusic.com ApS
Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked A Cake
(Al Hoffman/Bob Merrill/Clem Watts)
Published by EMI Music Publishing Limited
Al Hoffman Songs, Inc./Golden Bell Songs
Licensed Courtesy of Decca Music Group Ltd
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd
Rocket 88
(Jackie Brenston)
Published by © Hill & Range Songs Inc.
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp
Performed by Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats
Courtesy of MCA Records Inc.
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd
Mr. Sandman
(Pat Ballard)
Published by © Edwin H. Morris Co. Inc. (ASCAP)
All rights administered by Warner Chappell Music
Publishing Limited
Performed by Dickie Valentine
Licensed courtesy of Decca Music Group Ltd
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd
Shake Rattle & Roll
(Charles Calhoun)
Published by UniChappell Music Inc. (BMI) and Mijac
Music (BMI)
All rights Administered by UniChappell Music Inc.
Sub-Published by Campbell Connelly & Co Ltd in the
Hard Headed Woman
(Claude De Metrius)
Published © Gladys Music
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp
Performed by Wanda Jackson
28
territory of British Commonwealth, Eire & South Africa
Excluding Australasia, Canada
Performed by Elvis Presley
(P) 1956 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Licensed courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK
Limited
I Put A Spell On You
(Jay Hawkins)
Published by EMI Music Publishing Limited/EMI United
Partnership Limited
Performed by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
(P) 1956 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Licensed courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK
Limited
Licensed courtesy of EMI Records Ltd
(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear
(Bernie Lowe/Karl Mann)
Published by © Carlin Music Corp
Performed by Aaron Johnson
That’ll Be The Day
(Jerry Allison/Buddy Holly/Norman Petty)
Published ©1957 MPL Communications Inc.
Melody Lane Publications, Inc.
Performed by Aaron Johnson
Maggie May
(Wally Whyton)
Published by Tro Essex Music Ltd
Performed by Anne-Marie Duff
Rockin’ Daddy
(Therman B Fisher)
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp
Performed by Eddie Bond & The Stompers
Licensed from Licensemusic.com ApS
Courtesy of Sun Entertainment Corporation
Twenty Flight Rock
(Edward Cochran/ Ned Fairchild)
Published by Campbell Connelly & Co Limited
Performed by Sam Bell & Patrick Murdoch
That’s All Right
(Arthur Crudup)
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp
Performed by The Nowhere Boys
Raunchy
(Sidney Manker/William E Justis)
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp and Hi-Lo
Music Inc
Performed by The Nowhere Boys
Maggie May
(Wally Whyton)
Published by Tro Essex Music Ltd
Performed by The Nowhere Boys
Blue Moon
(Richard Rodgers/ Lorenz Hart)
Published by EMI Music Publishing Limited/EMI United
Partnership Limited
Performed by Aaron Johnson & Thomas Brodie Sangster
Movin’ N’ Groovin’
(Duane Eddy/Lee Hazlewood)
Published © 1959 (Renewed) Unichappell Music Inc. (BMI)
Licensed courtesy of Warner Chappell Music
Publishing Limited
Performed by The Nowhere Boys
Hound Dog
(Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller)
Published by Universal/MCA Music Ltd/
© Lion Publishing Co Inc And Duchess Music Corp.(BMI)
All rights on behalf of Lion Publishing Co Inc. administered
by Warner Chappell Music Publishing Limited
Performed by Big Mama Thornton
Courtesy of MCA Records Inc.
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd
Love Me Tender
(Elvis Presley/Vera Matson)
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp.
Performed by Sam Bell
My Son John
(Sammy Fain/Carolyn Leigh)
Used by kind permission of Moncur Street Music Ltd
Performed by David Whitfield
Courtesy of Decca Music Group Ltd
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd
Be-Bop-A-Lula
(Gene Vincent/Sheriff Tex Davis)
Used by kind permission of Carlin Music Corp
Performed by Gene Vincent
Licensed courtesy of EMI Records Ltd
Hello Little Girl
(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Published by Sony/ATV Music
Performed by Sam Bell
In Spite Of All The Danger
(Paul McCartney/George Harrison)
Published by MPL Communications Ltd/Inc (ASCAP)
Performed by The Nowhere Boys
Mother
(John Lennon)
Published by Sony/ATV Music
Performed by John Lennon
Licensed courtesy of EMI Records Ltd
Soundtrack available on Sony Music
29
Additional incidental music by
John Gosling, Emre Ramazanoglu, Ben Parker, Ben Lee
Music thanks to:
Geithain Loudspeakers, Royer Microphones, Heil Microphones, Cranesong, Martin Guitars, EMF,
Sonny, Assault And Battery, Andrea Contino, Anna Whiting, Simon Rogers, Gerard McCann
STOCK FOOTAGE
ITN Source / Fox Movietone
BBC Motion Gallery
With thanks to:
Yoko Ono, Rose Garnett, Baillie Walsh, Niall O'Brien, Summar Hipworth, Louise Stern,
Joe Wright, Pauline McLaughlin, Angelica Jopling, Jessie Phoenix Jopling, Adrian Sturges,
Murray Chalmers, Peter Watson, Brad & Kitty and everyone at Duck Lane
Filmed in Liverpool, London and Ealing Studios
With thanks to
Susanna White
This motion picture is protected under the laws of the United States and other countries. Unauthorized
duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.
This film is based on true events. However, certain details, dialogue, scenes and characters have been
invented or adapted in the process of dramatisation of the film.
Worldwide Sales by HanWay Films
Collection Account Management by Fintage Collection Account Management B.V.
Made with the support of the UK Film Council’s Development Fund and Premiere Fund
Made with the support of North West Vision and Media through the Merseyside Film & Television Fund
and the Regional Attraction Fund
An Ecosse Films Production for Film4, the UK Film Council, North West Vision and Media and LipSync
Productions LLP
© 2009 Lennon Films Limited Channel Four Television Corporation and UK Film Council. All Rights Reserved
30