STARS including Rupert Everett, Siobhán McSweeney and Callum Scott Howells may well be spotted around Anglesey at the moment as production begins on an alternative period drama.
Inspired by the opulent life of the 19th century aristocrat Henry Paget, fifth Marquess of Anglesey, Madfabulous is the feature film debut for Anglesey screenwriter Lisa Baker.
Production is now underway with filming taking place on Anglesey as well as around Caernarfon and Pwllheli and the cast is littered with established and rising stars guaranteed to ensure celeb-spotters keep their eyes peeled.
Howells is best know for his role as Colin in Channel 4's It's A Sin and is slated to portray Hollie Johnson in Relax, a forthcoming film about Frankie Goes to Hollywood. He plays the Marquess - young, flamboyant and rich, he was brought up at Plas Newydd and he went to Eton, supported in part by the annual revenue from his family's mining business - worth around £11 million per year in today's currency.
Upon inheriting his family fortune his extraordinary spending - on lavish parties, theatre shows and even a European tour where he put on shows and danced himself, eventually led to him filing for bankruptcy, owing what would today be around £70 million.
Madfabulous not an historically-accurate drama however. It is a creative, fantastical reimagining of this rebellious figure's life as he smashes through Victorian society’s protocols of elitism and gender before his untimely death aged just 29.
Joining Howells will be Bridgerton actress Ruby Stokes, playing Henry's wife and cousin Lily, and Napoleon and My Best Friends Wedding actor Rupert Everett.
Supported by Ffilm Cymru Wales through National Lottery funding - and by the Welsh Government via Creative Wales - the film also start Derry Girls' Siobhán McSweeney, Saltburn's Paul Rhys, Sherlock actress Louise Brealy, Louis Hynes from Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events and White Lines' Tom Rhys-Harries.
There will also be appearances by Flint's own Ian Puleston-Davies, formerly of Coronation Street and The Bay among others, Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean actor Steve Speirs, Roger Evans from House of the Dragon and The Crown, Guillaume Gallienne who featured in HBO's The Regime and Kevin Eldon, whose extensive back catalogue of comedy acting includes Big Train, Brass Eye, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge plus dramatic roles in Game of Thrones and The Responder.
BAFTA Cymru-winning director Celyn Jones said: "We have an embarrassment of riches in front of and behind the camera on Madfabulous.
"It’s wonderful to be telling this story, this way, right here and now. Henry was a true original and deserves this reimagining, revisiting his legend with a disco lens and a punk heart."
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