Actor Jamie Dornan been cast in a new movie about Belfast starring alongside Dame Judi Dench, Ciaran Hinds and Caitriona Balfe.
The film, entitled Belfast is a semi-autobiographical tale written and directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh who has drawn on his early childhood experiences growing up in the north of the city.
The 59-year-old was born in Belfast in 1960, but his family moved to England when he was nine years old.
The hunky 50 Shades star will play the role of Branagh’s father in the movie with Dublin-born actor Caitriona Balfe playing his wife and Branagh’s mother, Belfast Live reports.
The star-studded cast will also feature Dame Judi Dench in the role of Branagh’s grandmother with Belfast-born actor and Game of Thrones star Ciaran Hinds playing his grandfather.
It is also reported that filming has already begun in some parts of England in secret whilst plans are also afoot to film more scenes for the movie in Northern Ireland later this year.
One of Sir Kenneth’s most recent projects was the Disney film Artemis Fowl which was also partly filmed in Northern Ireland’s stunning North Coast.
Speaking at the time as to why he chose Northern Ireland for the film Sir Kenneth told the Irish Examiner: “These days the world has seen what Northern Ireland looks like because you’ve all watched Game of Thrones. So all those amazing locations in Game of Thrones we were taken to as kids like the Giant’s Causeway and the North Antrim Coast and Dunluce Castle.
“Whenever we went there, my father was always telling me about the giants and the trolls who lived underneath. So I was very alive to the idea that underneath this incredibly green grass of Ireland was full of pixies and sprites that my father used to tell me about.”
