Pride (2014) has a larger-than-life legacy (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
Ten years after Bafta-winning British film Pride came out, its legacy remains larger than ever for cast, crew, real-life activists and the LGBTQ+ community.
In many ways, it’s remarkable this unlikely love story between two communities – which recounts the true story of the 1984 strike that united the lesbian and gay community with Welsh miners – even exists.
First, there are the challenges of producing an LGBTQ+ film of this calibre and scale on an indie budget during a time when homophobia was still rooted within the mainstream film industry and these themes were seldom explored.
Then (through some miracle) the film effortlessly secured a star-studded cast featuring legends such as Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy, Dominic West, Faye Marsay, Paddy Considine, Jessica Gunning 10 years before her internationally-acclaimed role in Baby Reindeer, and countless more.
The spark for the game-changing idea came to writer Stephen Beresford 30 years ago after a chance discussion with his boyfriend introduced him to the unlikely comrades-in-arms.
Years later he revisited the idea.
The LGBTQ+ film secured an A-List cast with an indie budget (Picture: Nicola Dove/Pathe/BBC/Proud/Bfi/Canal+/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
‘Everyone that I spoke to before [producer] David Livingstone quite rightly said: “Look, you’ll never bring a commercial audience to a story about gay people.”
‘It probably was the case, really. Back then, it was difficult. That has definitely changed,’ Stephen told Metro.co.uk.
And former Swansea East MP Sian James, who is portrayed by Jessica in the film, was ‘sceptical’ about the film being made from the get-go.
‘You’ve got to remember it was 30 years after the fact. I didn’t think that the story was worthy of being told. Where had all of these organisations and individuals been?
‘I always mentioned LGSM (Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners) in every interview but people used to just gloss over it. It was really, really strange,’ she said.
Writer Stephen Beresford said every member of cast was their ‘first choice’ (Picture: Getty)
Former MP Sian James was ‘sceptical’ at first but soon warmed up to the idea (Picture: Getty)
Nevertheless, Stephen got the coveted seal of approval for the culture-clash comedy and everything miraculously slotted into place.
‘First Bill Nighy, then Imelda said yes and it built up from there. It was extraordinary, every time we sent out an offer they said yes.
‘It’s never happened before or since, that every single person was really our first choice,’ the screenwriter said.
Stephen’s right-hand man throughout the whole process was director Matthew Warchus, best known for theatre work up until this point.
However, Matthew admitted he almost passed on the film when his agent first approached him.
‘It wasn’t really what I was looking for so I said: “I don’t know”. But they pressed me. After two weeks he sent [the screenplay] over. I read it straight through and I thought it was absolutely perfect. The …read more
Source:: Metro
