Anne-Marie Duff Raises the Barre as ‘Margot’ | The Irish Film & Television Network

The 90 minute drama, produced by Mammoth Screen for BBC4, looks to bring to the screen the glamorous and turbulent life of Britain’s foremost international ballet star, Dame Margot Fonteyn. Margot, who danced until she was 60 years of age, was born Peggy Hookham in Surrey in 1919 and this drama investigates her life thereafter complete with dysfunctional marriage, love affairs, arrests and her on-stage (and possible off-stage) partnership with Rudolf Nureyev, played by Michiel Huisman (The Young Victoia).

’Margot’ is written by Amanda Coe (Shameless), directed by Otto Bathurst (Five Days) and produced by Celia Duval (line producer, Mrs Mandela). Other cast members involved include Lindsay Duncan (Thatcher), Derek Jacobi (Gladiator), Con O’Neill (Bedrooms and Hallways) and Penelope Wilton (Matchpoint).

Director Otto Bathurst tells IFTN why Anne-Marie was given the part: “Anne-Marie was chosen because, in my humble opinion, she is one of the best actresses we have . . . if not the best. We never approached the casting by looking for a ‘lookey-likey’ actress but she actually bears quite a resemblance to Margot”. One has to wonder if the fact that Anne-Marie is not a dancer posed any problems for production, a query Otto quickly quashes: “It didn’t really cause any problems. Like a lot of little girls Anne-Marie did ballet when she was three, she had danced a bit as part of her drama training and she is a regular yogaist . . .yogi . . . (She partakes in yoga classes regularly). But it was, even still, a huge task for Anne-Marie to undertake – in all the dance scenes we use her upper body and even when it’s a shot of her walking down the corridor – that’s very difficult. There are 28 set pieces in the film so you’re really talking about a gigantic task here and she pulled it off excellently, she is fantastic in all those scenes.”

The programme will paint a slightly different, more realistic picture of the ballerina than is popularly accepted, as Otto explains, “She was no snow white, there is this image of here that makes people think she was very innocent but, to put it frankly, all ballet dancers put it out a bit. And I mean it’s understandable because they are performing together and it’s an incredibly intense form of dance. Essentially there is 1mm of lycra between dancing and sex when it comes to ballet and this is very true in the case of Margot who we know had many lovers.”

‘Margot’ will broadcast on BBC Four on Monday, November 30th at 9.00pm.

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