Help Sitemap Home Skip Navigation Contact Us Disability Statement

 
 
Thursday, 4th December 2008

Premium Article !

Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button.

Options

Premium Article !

To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the Sheffield Star site.

Subscribe

Registered Article !

To read this article in full you must be registered with the site.

Oliver's left wanting more after starring in Caine film



Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image

Published Date: 28 August 2008
NOT a lot of people know that - but a Doncaster boy is hitting the big screen in a movie with Michael Caine.
Young Oliver Leach and his family are now excitedly looking forward to heading to Leicester Square, London, for a premiere of the new British film Is There Anybody There?

The movie is due for mainstream release on the cinema circuit probably before the end of the year.

The 12-year-old from Old Rossington has been cast as the friend of the leading boy character in the independent movie, which stars several other veteran actors including Leslie Phillips, Thelma Barlow, Sylvia Sims and the late Elizabeth Spriggs.

Set in 1980s seaside England, it is the story of Edward, an unusual 10-year-old boy growing up in an old people's home run by his parents.

While his mother struggles to keep the family business afloat, and his father copes with the onset of mid-life crisis, Edward is busy tape-recording the elderly residents to try to discover what happens when they die.

Increasingly obsessed with ghosts and the afterlife, Edward's is a rather lonely existence until he meets Clarence - Michael Caine - the latest recruit to the home, a retired magician with a liberating streak of anarchy.

Is There Anybody There? tells the surprising, touching story of the odd couple facing life together, with Edward learning to live in the moment and Clarence coming to terms with the past.

Oliver's mother, Sarah Kaiper-Holmes, who chaperoned him on the film set, said he really loved the experience of working with such big names. "He enjoyed it and it was nice for me to see a lot of well-known faces that I recognised," she said.

"It was very interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes and everyone was very nice to us."

The film is Oliver's first big break into movies after spending six years attending the StarStruck stage academy in Doncaster, along with his younger sister Phoebe, nine, and brother Dominic, six.

Oliver, a pupil at Hill House St Mary's School, also had a leading role in the film Tree House, which is likely to be shown only at film festivals. His family is still waiting to see it.

"He should get a lot more exposure from the Michael Caine film and we are hoping it will be shown at the Doncaster cinema, especially as a local boy will be in it," said Sarah.

Oliver's proud drama teacher, Samantha Smith, said he was "an exceptional talent".



READ MORE

Main news index
Your letters.
Features
More Rotherham news
More Doncaster news
More Barnsley news
Check out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic section
Latest sport.

The full article contains 470 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 28 August 2008 8:54 AM
  • Source: Sheffield Star
  • Location: Sheffield
 
 

Comment on this Story

 

In order to post comments you must Register or Sign In

 
 
 
  

 
 


Sister Newspapers:
Press Complaints Commission

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the PCC by clicking here.