Thomas Turgoose nabs leading role in Scouting Book For Boys
Story by Jack Foley
RISING young British star Thomas Turgoose has landed the lead role in Tom Harper’s directorial debut The Scouting Book for Boys.
Turgoose, who is due to open in new Shane Meadows’ film Somers Town on August 22, first came to the spotlight in Meadows’ BAFTA award-winning This is England, playing a schoolboy who falls in with a gang of skinheads.
The Scouting Book For Boys will find him playing a troubled teenager who finds himself in deep water when he helps a young girl run away from home.
The tale of obsessive first love, scripted by Jack Thorne (of Channel 4’s Skins) and produced by Celador’s Christian Colson and Ivana Mackinnon, begins principal photography on September 14 on the East coast.
Prior to that date, casting directors Suzanne Smith and Julie Harkin are at work finalising the supporting cast, which so far includes roles for Susan Lynch (Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Enduring Love) and newcomer Holliday Grainger.
Producers Christian Colson and Ivana Mackinnon commented: “We’re delighted to be working once again with our old friends at Film4 and Pathe, and to be partnering for the first time with Screen East.
“Tom Harper, Jack Thorne and Thomas Turgoose are three of the brightest young talents in the UK and we’re thrilled to be bringing this poignant and compelling story to the big screen.”
Film4’s Peter Carlton added: “Film4 is delighted to be backing this feature with young British talent we’ve supported from the beginning – Thomas in This Is England, Tom through Channel 4’s Coming Up drama strand and Jack through writing for Skins.
“A deceptively simple tale of lost teenagers, Scouting Book is an urgent and telling portrait, which will resonate with audiences everywhere.”
As well as the forthcoming Somers Town, Turgoose will also be seen in controversial “hoodie horror” Eden Lake which opens in UK cinemas on September 12, 2008.