Minnie Driver was cast in British drama Angels in the Asylum – but has reportedly walked away from the project amid claims that crew are owed wages totalling £600, 000
Minnie Driver has reportedly quit working on a British film over a payment dispute. The 55-year-old actress is one of an all-star cast in a forthcoming drama titled Angels in the Asylum – which is the directorial debut of documentary maker Rob Sorrenti.
The film is produced by Stephen Daldry the acclaimed Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning director of Billy Elliot. While Simon Pegg, Katherine Waterston, and Miriam Margolyes are also among the cast.
Keal Productions are behind the project – with the company previously helping produce the final episode of Gavin &, Stacey and also creating a documentary about Byker Grove. While UK-based production, sales and distribution outfit Parkland Pictures is listed as the distribution company for the project.
A synopsis of the film explains: “An original story inspired by real events surrounding a group of women who were incarcerated in a mental asylum for being typhoid carriers. These women were not mentally ill, but over time driven mad by their isolation. The story, set in London between 1932 and 1955, focuses on Mary, the only woman released from Long Grove Mental Asylum after her daughter’s eighteen-year ordeal to win her freedom”.
The film is inspired by a BBC Newsnight exposé on the women who were incarcerated at Long Grove Asylum in Surrey at the beginning of the 1900s. However, the production has been thrown into chaos amid reports that crew are owed wages totalling £600,000.
A source told The Sun: “They were told they would be paid. But this has gone on for weeks now and there is no pay. Minnie has left to go and work on another film. It’s chaos. Patience is wearing thin now, but really for most of the crew it wore out weeks ago”.
The Mirror has contacted representatives of Keal Productions and Parkland Pictures for comment. The Sun’s report has suggested that up to 70 crew members have experienced payment issues while working on the project.
The report suggests that some have not been paid so far – while it is also reported that production ground to a halt after 15 days. The shoot had been projected to last for a full month.
A statement released to the publication by the Managing Director of Keal Productions claimed producers had urgently been attempting to raise finances to pay workers and get filming back on track. While a spokesperson from Parkland Pictures expressed a belief that the project would continue at some point.
Screen Daily first announced the project in May last year – sharing the news that Simon and Katherine had been cast in key roles. The outlet reported at the time: “Katherine Waterston, Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver, Cush Jumbo, Rose Williams and Miriam Margolyes are to star in UK filmmaker Rob Sorrenti’s debut feature Angels In The Asylum”.
The report noted: “The UK shoot is set to begin in early 2025 around the Kent area, with Heather Greenwood, Marie-Elena Dyche and Charlotte Carey producing”.
And then added: “UK filmmaker Sorrenti built his career working on behind-the-scenes featurettes for films such as The Mummy, the Bourne films, Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Little Women. His credits also include TV documentary The Real Billy Elliot Diaries and short The Kodiak Queen, narrated by Kate Winslet”.
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