Dafne Keen and Aidan Gillen are teaming up for a gritty new crime romance set in the streets of London.
Keen — known for Deadpool & Wolverine and His Dark Materials — is set to play a call girl/sex worker in Driver, a new British indie film marking the feature debut of award-winning filmmaker Patrick Ireland.
Gillen, best known for Game of Thrones and Peaky Blinders, will co-star as a dangerous figure from the past.
A Story of Survival, Class, and Intimacy
Written by Ireland and Jessica Romagnoli, Driver follows Trey (yet to be cast), a withdrawn ex-con working as a night driver on the outskirts of London’s underworld.
He forms an unlikely bond with Camden (Keen), a sharp, restless young sex worker. As their relationship deepens, both find themselves increasingly trapped by the criminal ecosystem that surrounds them, including Dickinson (Gillen), a violent force from Trey’s past.
“Caught between loyalty, fear and the possibility of escape,” reads the synopsis, “Trey and Camden are forced to confront how much freedom truly costs in a system designed to keep people exactly where they belong.”
Behind the Scenes
Produced by Playhouse Pictures, Driver is currently in development with additional casting and a production start date to be announced. The casting director is Ajo Kacmar (High Wire, Dr Campbell). Keen also serves as executive producer.
“I can’t wait to dive into such a complex role in Patrick’s honest, raw and compassionate story,” Keen said. “Patrick finds light in the dark and this is a world I had to be a part of.”
Ireland describes the film as “a profoundly human story about the courage it takes to reclaim one’s life, and how, together, we might be able to confront a society that exploits us all.”
Playhouse Pictures founder Adriel Thomas praised the project as “bold, character-led filmmaking,” while producer Byron Ross, who previously worked with Keen on Star Wars, added, “It was obvious she was the one who could carry this role with the weight and truth it deserves.”
Keen is repped by Independent Talent Group, UTA, Liebman Entertainment, Goodman Genow, and Public Eye Communications. Gillen is repped by Independent Talent Group, The Coronel Group, Gersh, and McKuin Frankel Whitehead, LLP.
Variety first reported on the news.
