Rebecca Ferguson brought a "sunny presence" to the set of 'Despite The Falling Snow'.
Rebecca Ferguson
Ferguson plays the female protagonist Katya in the spy drama set in Moscow during the Cold War, opposite 'Game of Thrones' actor Charles Dance and 'The Riot Club' star Sam Reid, who both play the role of Alexander at different ages.
Speaking of the difficult days filming on location in Serbia, director Shamim Sarif exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "Every day was a difficult day, it is a lot of night shoots so there were times when it was pouring with rain, everybody's exhausted, everything seems to be out of focus, nothings coming together, you think 'Why am I doing this?' and you have to hold it together because every day is so crucial.
"Rebecca was a particularly sunny presence on set; she's always very happy and very upbeat. That was useful because she was on set practically every day.
Shamim wrote the book on which the film is based and looked for actors who embodied the spirit of the characters, and was delighted that Rebecca, 32, Charles, 69, Sam, 29, and 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' star Anthony Head - who plays Old Misha - got on board.
The film - released nationwide in the UK on April 15 - is set in the 1950s, and the director was pleased she cast Rebecca, who reminded her of Hollywood starlet NS 'Casablanca' actress Ingrid Bergman.
She said: "In the end I looked for actors who would embody the spirit of the character. But I chose Rebecca Ferguson first and I met with her and I just thought she had a great Ingrid Bergman type quality. And we sent the script to Charles Dance and he absolutely loved it, and he came on board which was really great because he gets offered big Hollywood films all the time.
"Anthony Head was high up on my list from the very beginning. For me, I thought they were a great casting. They were really very prepared. It was wonderful for me to direct them in those characters, because I believe they play very different characters to what they normally play. So for Charles, he's very vulnerable, he goes through quite an emotional trauma, for Tony, you don't often see him as a wrecked alcoholic with a past, so we worked hard together on the characterisation."
Meanwhile, 'The X Factor' star Ella Henderson sang the movie's title song and Shamim was pleased with the final production, which she credited to being a "collaborative" process.
She added: "It turned out really well, I was lucky I got to write and direct the film which is unusual. i had a huge degree of creative control, but it's such a collaborative process".
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