Interviews: The Last Station premiere
Dame Helen MIrren stars in The Last Station
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Wednesday, 27, Jan 2010 05:42
The UK premiere of The Last Station was rife with baby gossip last night, but it was the stunning leading lady of cinema Dame Helen Mirren who grabbed the spotlight.
Having earlier announced their pregnancy, James McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff looked glowing as they arrived at the British premiere.
Duff was carefully taken past the crowds that had gathered, dressed in an elegant black lace gown which revealed her baby bump, while husband McAvoy stopped to answer questions but continued to look protectively his wife's way.
Arriving with her sister Katherine, Mirren spoke of her love of the film's script, her hopes to retire so she can "make clothes all day" and her denial of any involvement in up-coming projects with Quentin Tarantino.
Asked her view on the baby news, and Mirren beamed: "Well I did know already! They're a fantastic couple. They couldn't be a nicer couple. Anne-Marie is one of the great British actresses, and James as we know is a fantastic actor. Their range, both of them, is incredibly broad.
"They are totally in love with each other, which was very clear during the filming. So I think that will be a happy baby."
McAvoy was reluctant to give any information away about becoming a daddy, but said of the film the best thing for him was playing a "real person", and someone who kept diaries, which gave him a real insight into the character.
Meanwhile, author of The Last Station Jay Parini said he was concerned about the reception the film might receive from the Russian audience: " MyRussian translator warned me that the Russians are going to be furious, because I tell the truth about Tolstoy.
"My translator said 'you're going to need a bodyguard when you fly to Moscow'," he added.
And director Michael Hoffman told inthenews.co.uk that making The Last Station was a walk in the park: "It was a pleasure working with Helen. It was easy and deeply rewarding because she's a great storyteller
"I've made a lot of period movies so when I get to move up to the nineteenth century I'm like 'oh, this is easy', and we worked extensively from photographs."
Sarah Garrod
The Last Station is released on February 19th.