Annette Bening felt "safe" shooting intense age gap romance ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’ with Jamie Bell
The 59-year-old Academy Award nominee stars as real life actress Gloria Grahame who meets the unknown actor Peter Turner (Bell) in 1978 and the two start a vibrant love affair despite their age difference, and Bening admitted she loved working with the ‘Billy Elliot’ actor because he was a very supportive co-star.
Speaking on ‘This Morning’ on Thursday (12.10.17), Bening said: "I felt safe with him and you become so close when you work on something like this. I felt very supported by him and I hope he felt the same way. He’s a real professional, maybe because he started when he was young.
"He’s a great guy and he’s just a very solid guy and he really helped me. He was a doll. I loved it."
The film is based on Turner’s memoirs about his affair with the B-Movie actress and Bening revealed he was part of the filmmaking process.
She said: "Peter has very much been a part of making the movie. He is a very beautiful man and when you meet him you completely understand why Gloria fell in love with him. She had a very difficult life. She was here doing theatre because she couldn’t really get any other jobs so she is one of those people that, after the 1950s, she couldn’t find work.
"Barbara Broccoli, one of our producers, was friends with Peter and she knew him when he was with Gloria so this was a long-time coming and I talked with Barbara about making the movie years ago. It means a lot to Peter. It was a very complicated period of his life and he was very much involved in any moment."
Although Bening – who is married to Hollywood legend Warren Beatty – has been nominated for an Oscar on four occasions she has yet to win one but there is already Academy buzz about ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’, however, she won’t allow herself to be distracted by it.
She said: "People ask me about it [the Oscars] and I do talk about it. It’s a part of life and a part of my business. It’s exciting but then sometimes it doesn’t happen. I love what I do. It’s a labour of love for everyone, for each of us. We put everything we had into it. It means a lot to all of us."
Annette Bening felt safe working with Jamie Bell
