Shropshire Star

Bridgnorth pupils in new Glenn Close film

Two pupils of a Bridgnorth theatre school had the chance to work with internationally famous movie star Glenn Close on the set of a new film.

Published

Mabel Edwards and Shay Gutteridge feature in the British blockbuster The Girl With All the Gifts, which also starred Bond girl Gemma Arterton and was directed by Colm McCarthy, who has previously worked on BBC shows like Doctor Who, Spooks and Peaky Blinders.

The film is set in a dystopian future where a virus has turned much of humanity into zombies.

It focuses around an extremely intelligent young girl called Melanie, growing up in an army school headed by Glenn Close's character.

See a trailer of the film here:

Mabel, 10, and Shay, 13, both from Bridgnorth's Pauline Quirke Academy, play fellow pupils at the school.

Principal of the academy, Marguerite Elcock, said it was an amazing opportunity for the youngsters to be a part of the film.

She said: They've both done a bit of professional work before so this wasn't their first parts

"But to have the chance to work with Glenn Close and Gemma Arterton is absolutely amazing.

"We were approached by the casting directors because we have such a good reputation with the PQA and they told us they were looking for young actors.

"They wanted people who were able to go on set and get on with the shoot and really learn, we sent a number of children but they liked the look of Shay and Mabel.

"In fact, if you watch the trailer you can actually see Shay pop up quite a few times.

"It was a fantastic opportunity, they are really talented young people and they had a great time on set and were treated incredibly by the cast and crew,

"Colm McCarthy I believe was a brilliant director to work with and they really learned a lot with him.

"It was a really professional, supportive environment and they had a great time."

The Pauline Quirke Academy meets weekly at Bridgnorth Endowed School.

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