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Maggie Smith to star in The Lady in the Van
Harry Potter star Maggie Smith is set to star in the film adaptation of The Lady in the Van. The play, written by Alan Bennett, is an autobiographical piece about an elderly lady who took refuge in the author's garden.
Harry Potter star Maggie Smith is set to star in the film adaptation of The Lady in the Van.
The play, written by Alan Bennett, is an autobiographical piece about an elderly lady who took refuge in the author's Camden garden and has been a hit in the West End, reported Digital Spy.
TriStar Productions will partner with BBC Films for the movie, which will be written by Bennett and directed by Nicholas Hytner. The pair previously worked together on The History Boys.
The 79-year-old Downton Abbey actor will star as an eccentric pensioner Miss Shepherd, who lived on Bennett's driveway for 15 years.
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Meanwhile, Alex Jennings will play Bennett in the film, which is set to be released late next year.
"My collaboration with Alan Bennett has been at the centre of my creative life and this true story is perhaps his most compelling and remarkable," Hytner said.
"Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings are two of Britain's greatest actors, and they...are old colleagues. And it gives me particular personal pleasure to be working again with Tom Rothman (TriStar Productions Chairman), my longest standing friend in the American film industry," he added.
