George MacKay, Clive Owen and More Join Daisy Ridley in Ophelia

Clive Owen, Tom Felton, George MacKay and Devon Terrell join Covert Media’s Ophelia

A slew of new actors have joined the upcoming Covert Media film Ophelia, a re-imagining of Shakespeare‘s Hamlet. The film already stars Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) and Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts (The Impossible, the Divergent series). Golden Globe-winning and Academy Award nominated actor Clive Owen (Closer, Children of Men, upcoming Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), George MacKay (Captain Fantastic, Pride), Tom Felton (Harry Potter franchise, In Secret, Belle), and Devon Terrell (Barry) have joined the romantic tragedy, as announced by producer and Covert Media’s CEO Paul Hanson today. Ophelia begins principal photography later this month in Prague.

The film will be directed by Claire McCarthy (The Waiting City) and is based on the award-winning novel by Lisa Klein and adapted for the screen by the award-winning writer SemiChellas (Mad Men, The Eleventh Hour).

Set in the 14th Century but spoken in a contemporary voice, Ophelia is a dynamic re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Ophelia (Ridley) takes center stage as the Queen’s (Watts) most trusted lady-in-waiting. Beautiful and intelligent, she soon captures the attention of the handsome Prince Hamlet and a forbidden love blossoms. As war brews, lust and betrayal are tearing Elsinore Castle apart from within and Ophelia must decide between her true love or her own life in order to protect a very dangerous secret. Owen will play Claudius, MacKay will play Hamlet, Felton will play Laertes, and Terrell will play Horatio.

Hamlet has been performed on stage, of course, as well as on television and in film. In 1990, the film Hamlet starred Mel Gibson (Braveheart) in the titular role, with Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction) playing Queen Gertrude and Helena Bonham Carter playing Ophelia. The film was directed by Franco Zeffirelli. In 1996, Kenneth Branagh (Henry V) directed and starred in a four-hour version that contained every word of Shakespeare’s play. In that, Julie Christie (Doctor Zhivago) plays Queen Gertrude and Kate Winslet (Titanic) plays Ophelia.

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(Photo Credit: John Phillips/Getty Images)

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