Film fans cast Ian McKellen (From Croydon Guardian)

Film fans cast Ian McKellen

10:18am Thursday 13th April 2006 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

With a lead role in the hugely successful Lord of the Rings trilogy under his belt, as well as a stint on the cobbles of Coronation Street last year, Sir Ian McKellen is not the calibre of actor you would expect to play a role in a mock-umentary by two young Croydon filmmakers.

But Guerrilla Distribution a film about two filmmakers' attempts to con their way into the movie world by making a low budget King Kong before Peter Jackson is able to finish his version features the international screen star.

The two men responsible for persuading Sir Ian to star in their film, 22-year-olds Adrian Bowley and Adam van Gelder, grew up and studied in Croydon the setting for their film.

"We are very affectionate about the area that we grew up in and Croydon has got a certain feel to it that really suited the story," explained Adrian. "Croydon has different sides to it and when you just change the lighting slightly, it can look quite nice and if you change the angle again it can look gritty so it really suited the nature of the film."

Explaining how two young Croydonians got the great Sir Ian to play a part in their project, Adrian added: "I managed to track him down when he was in Aladdin in London.

"We pitched the idea to him and he quite enjoyed the concept of the film so he invited us to his house."

Adrian and Adam spent several hours in Sir Ian's house by the Thames and even taught him the melody of a song from hit musical Grease to hum in the film.

"It was surreal. Whenever we were with him it felt normal and natural and he made us tea. But when he left the room, the shock set in that we were with Sir Ian McKellen and our jaws just dropped."

The next project for the ambitious duo is a sci-fi comedy also set in the borough. For now though they are just looking forward to seeing the culmination of two years of hard work when the film premieres tomorrow night (Thursday).

If you want to see Guerrilla Distribution it is being screened at Brixton's Ritzy Cinema at 9.30pm and is recommended for over 15s.

Tickets cost £10 with the proceeds going towards the pair's next cinematic adventure.

For more information, go to www.realkong.co.uk.