KIRSTEN CALLAGHAN

AS MERCEDES GLEITZE

(Debut Feature Performance)

JOHN LOCKE

AS HAROLD BEST

(Cyrano, Darkest Hour, The Favourite)

VICTORIA SUMMER

AS EDITH GADE

(Saving Mr Banks, Transformers, Glow and Darkness)

  • JAMES WILBY

    AS MR. HAVERS

    (Howard’s End, Maurice, Gosford Park)

  • DOUGLAS HODGE

    AS THE NEWSREADER

    (The Great, Joker, The Undoing)

  • JUSTIN HAYWARD

    AS LEONARD CLAY

    (Darkest Hour, Drunk History, The Tunnel)

  • MICHAEL CRONIN

    AS STEAMSHIP CAPTAIN

    (Grange Hill, In the Heart of the Sea, Merlin)

  • SAM BULLEN

    AS P.J. TEMPLETON

    (Debut Feature Performance)

  • JOHN TOLPUTT

    AS SIR ARTHUR COLERIDGE

    (Debut Feature Performance)

  • MIKE SKINNER

    AS DR H.W. PHILLIPS

    (To Hunt a Tiger)

  • MATTHEW WYN-DAVIES

    AS CORENTIN CHARBONEAU

    (High Water, Nootau)

  • OWEN OLDROYD

    AS OFFICE MANAGER

    (Sideshow, A Very British Cult, Warren)

  • KENNETH OMOLE

    AS JAZZ CLUB COMPARE

    (Debut Feature Performance)

  • JAMES WINGATE

    AS OARSMAN

    (High Water, Völuspá, The Isle)

  • DAVID AITCHISON

    AS SAMUEL HUNTINGTON

    (To Hunt a Tiger, The Isle)

CASTING PROCESS

Vintage portraits, newspaper articles and contemporary archive footage were used to help build an authentic cast who captured both the physical likeness and spirit of their characters. Many of the cast had a shared connection with Mercedes Gleitze’s hometown of Brighton.

For Mercedes herself, Kirsten Callaghan was discovered among a huge array of young women who auditioned for the part. For director Elliott Hasler she stood out for numerous reasons, not least due her incredible physical resemblance, but also as she too was born in Brighton, is keen swimmer and shares many of the qualities such as perseverance and determination that made Mercedes Gleitze such a trailblazing heroine.

Kirsten Callaghan as Mercedes Gleitze Gleitze Portrait (1928)