Imelda Staunton and Hannah Waddingham’s West: The Road Ahead

DCS
August 10, 2023

The Irish film “West the Road,” starring Imelda Staunton and Hannah Waddingham, will start filming on August 21, 2023. The drama movie’s main setting is County Kerry in Ireland’s peninsular southwest, where a group of women get together after the death of their childhood friend Margaret. The logline for the movie reads, “When they learn that she [Margaret] was forced to put her daughter up for adoption at the age of 15, the gang sets out from the west of Ireland up the Wild Atlantic coastline – escorted by a donkey named Thatcher – in quest of the child. On September 29, 2023, the production is anticipated to come to an end.

The recent SAG-AFTRA strike does not appear to have an impact on the film’s major cast because they are either English or Irish. The MacGillycuddy’s Reeks mountains, the seashore, and other alluring natural features of the area are well known. Kerry’s natural beauty has drawn a number of well-known productions to the area throughout the years to film there. Only a few of those projects include “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Lobster,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “Far and Away,” “This Must Be the Place,” and “Byzantium,” which stars Saoirse Ronan.

Ita Fitzgerald, known for directing eighteen episodes of BBC’s medical drama “Doctors,” is in charge of directing the road trip film. The film was written by Fitzgerald as well. ‘School Gates,’ ‘Grand Designs,’ ‘A Place in the Sun,’ etc. are just a few of her other acting credits.

After portraying Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix’s historical series “The Crown,” Penny Wootton in Apple TV+’s “Trying,” Maud Bagshaw in “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” and Mary in “Flesh and Blood,” Staunton is joining the project. Dolores Umbridge from the “Harry Potter” films, Vera from Mike Leigh’s Golden Lion-winning “Vera Drake,” Nurse from “Shakespeare in Love,” Knotgrass from the “Maleficent” movie trilogy, Hefina from “Pride,” Karen Edwards from “A Confession,” etc. are just a few of her other well-known roles.

Waddingham is most recognised for her role as Rebecca Welton in the sports drama “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV+. Some of her other roles include Lady Bellaston in “Tom Jones,” Lady Bellaston in “Sex Education,” Septa Unella in “Game of Thrones,” Magdalena in “12 Monkeys,” Shiraz in “The Hustle,” Hubert in “Willow,” and Lady Marchetti in “Sex Education.” Siobhan McSweeney, who plays Sister Michael in ‘Derry Girls’, Mary McCurdy in ‘The Fall’, and Eileen Walsh, who plays Crispina in ‘The Magdalene Sisters’ and Lily De Courcy in ‘Modern Love’, round out the rest of the cast

Production credits for the movie go to John Wallace and Alan Maher of Cowtown Pictures (‘LOLA’) and Matthew James Wilkinson and Patrick Tolan of Stigma Films (‘Choose or Die’). Along with Evan Leighton-Davis, Bankside Films (‘Talk to Me’ and ‘Inside’)’ Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green serve as executive producers.