Focus Features has released the trailer for Elsinore, the true story of actor Ian Charleson, starring Andrew Scott as Charleson and Olivia Colman.
The synopsis describes the film as “The deeply emotional and inspirational true story of Ian Charleson, a gifted actor whose greatest challenge becomes his greatest triumph. Facing his own mortality with unflinching honesty, wit, and grace, Charleson delivers a courageous performance that becomes a source of healing and inspiration for those around him.”
Charleson’s final major stage role forms the film’s backbone — playing Hamlet at London’s National Theatre in 1989, all while privately dying of AIDS. A decade earlier, he’d become a household name as Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire. He was diagnosed HIV-positive in 1986 and died less than two months after finishing the Hamlet run, at just 40. He chose to have his cause of death made public, one of the first UK celebrities to do so at a time when AIDS carried enormous stigma.
Scott stars as Charleson, alongside Colman, Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn, Luke Thompson, David Dawson, Matthew Beard, Joe Locke, Monica Dolan, Georgie Glen, Sadie Soverall, Adeel Akhtar, Dickie Beau and Kadiff Kirwan, with Juliet Stevenson and Peter Mullan.
Stone directs from a screenplay by Beresford, based on an idea by Ethan Silverman. Andrea Occhipinti, Gabrielle Tana, Pete Shilaimon, Mickey Liddell, Stefano Massenzi, Carolyn Marks Blackwood and Scott produce. The film is a StudioCanal, LD Entertainment, Lucky Red and Magnolia Mae Films production.
Elsinore held its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in September, followed by a gala screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and the opening-night slot at the BFI London Film Festival in October. The film opens in U.S. theaters Nov. 20.
Watch the trailer below:
Featured image photo credit: Photo: Focus Features
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