Film Star Shines From Edinburgh's Rooftops
Film fans looking up to sky in Edinburgh may catch a fleeting glimpse of a star of a different kind over the next few weeks. Actor Jamie Bell, star of the smash hit Billy Elliot, is filming for his latest movie, Hallam Foe about a boy who lives on the rooftops of Scotland's capital city.
The production will be filming the city skyline alongside familiar Edinburgh landmarks, including Waverley Station and Old Town, famous for its narrow closes, over the next two weeks. The Caledonian Hilton Hotel on Princes Street has already been filmed.
Jamie Bell's co-stars include Claire Forlani, who appeared with Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black. The cast includes Sophia Myles, best known for her portrayal of Lady Penelope in the film adaptation of Thunderbirds.
Hallam Foe, is based on the Edinburgh-set novel of that name, by former Scotsman journalist Peter Jinks, who wrote most of the book when he lived in Edinburgh's Stockbridge more than five years ago. The film is directed by David Mackenzie - who just happens to be an old flat mate of author Jinks
The film's dark story follows the life of teenager Hallam, just coming to terms with the sudden death of his mother, when he begins to suspect that his beautiful step-mother may have had a hand in her death. Fleeing his family, Hallam begins to live a feral life on the rooftops of the Capital, where his voyeurism takes a dangerous turn as he falls in love with a girl who looks just like his mother.
Mr Jinks set Hallam Foe, which is his debut novel, in Edinburgh's Old Town in order to capture its Gothic atmosphere. The Edinburgh rooftops were the ideal location for Hallam to satisfy his passion for watching the world below.
Jinks said: "When I was putting the book together, I was interested in how more voyeuristic society was becoming, and this was before Big Brother, but the rooftop idea came about rather strangely.
"I was lying in my bed one night - we were on the top floor so there was this skylight above me - and suddenly this guy just opened the skylight and appeared in front of me before muttering sorry and disappearing. It was probably just a student but it got me thinking.
"Edinburgh was a huge inspiration for this book; the narrow closes of the Old Town and the compact rooftops all feature in the book and I think you will see that in the film."
Unlike the book, the screen adaptation has Hallam working as a room service waiter in the Caledonian Hotel - a job that director Mr Mackenzie had in the 1980s.
Shooting is expected to finish in May and the film is due for release by the start of next year.