Film stars to get all steamy at railway location
2:00pm Saturday 15th October 2011
By Andrew Ffrench HERLADSERIES
STEAM train enthusiasts travel to Didcot railway centre from across the globe and now the ‘Russians’ are coming.
A new blockbuster film version of Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel Anna Karenina is being filmed at the heritage railway centre next to Didcot Parkway station.
The Working Title production will star Keira Knightley as Anna, a married woman who has an affair with a younger soldier, while Jude Law has won the role of her husband, Aleksei Karenin.
Film crews arrived at the centre earlier this week and the actors are expected to start shooting steamy scenes early next month.
It is the second time leading stage and screen actor Law has starred in a movie featuring scenes shot at the centre.
Last year, he visited with Robert Downey Jr to film the Warner Brothers sequel to the 2009 Sherlock Holmes movie.
Security is now tight at the centre, as film crews are reluctant to allow members of the public to see filming, although the centre will remain open to visitors at weekends.
Centre manager Roger Orchard said: “I’m really looking forward to seeing Jude Law again – he seemed quite down to earth and a very nice chap.
“We are expecting him and Keira Knightley and the other actors to arrive early next month and they will be here for about 10 days, but the film crew will remain here until early December.
“Every time we get a big budget movie here our reputation as a film location grows in Hollywood and this brings in thousands of pounds a year for us at a relatively quiet time of year for the centre.
“And the film crews bring a financial boost to the town as well because they bring business to B&Bs, cafés and restaurants.”
Mr Orchard added that set builders were recreating a snowy Russian railway scene that would feature emotional arrivals and departures.
Oscar-winning dramatist Tom Stoppard has written the script and Atonement director Joe Wright is directing the movie.
Some scenes will also be shot in Russia and the film is due in cinemas next year.
Other well-known British actors in the film, set in late 19th century Russia, include Matthew Macfadyen and Kelly Macdonald.
A spokesman for Working Title Films said: “We can confirm that filming for Anna Karenina has now started.”
The centre, which opened in 1967, still has an original engine shed and is often used for platform shots which double as Paddington Station in London.
During the past 25 years, there have been more than 100 visits from film crews.
A £125,000 fundraising drive was recently completed by the centre so it could sign a 50-year lease with Network Rail, which will allow long-term expansion plans on the site to go ahead
Many thanks to @SANDIGEE57
1 comment:
Thanks Sandi - what a great picture. He has such beautiful eyes.
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