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Made in Dagenham

The stars

"When a script is so well written, you know that you're going to get very good actors attracted to it," says Rosamund Pike of the reason she wanted to make the film. "Sally Hawkins, Miranda Richardson, Danny Mays, Andrea Riseborough, Bob Hoskins… the cast on this is just amazing."

(From Made in Dagenham Production Notes)

Read the following cast information on the stars in the film then answer the questions below:

Sally Hawkins

Since picking up a string of awards, including the Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Golden Globe, for her performance as Poppy in Mike Leigh’sHappy-Go-Lucky, Sally has gone on to complete work on Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, Gurindar Chada’s It’s a Wonderful Afterlife and most recently Submarine. Sally has also been cast in The Roaring Girl, in which she will play Bernadette Devlin.

Rosamund Pike

This actress appeared in a supporting role in last year's British hit An Education, and as an MI6 agent, ice maiden and champion fencer in the Bond film Die Another Day. She also appeared in Pride and Prejudice alongside Keira Knightly. In late 2004, Rosamund swapped her corset for a bulletproof vest, when she took the lead female role in the huge-budget action film, Doom.

Bob Hoskins

Since the 1960s, Bob Hoskins has been one of the UK's most highly regarded acting talents and has starred in Hollywood blockbusters such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Mermaids, Hook, The Long Good Friday and Mona Lisa. It was Hoskins' role as George in Mona Lisa that won him a Cannes award, Best Actor Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Bob has recently appeared in Walt Disney's A Christmas Carol.

Miranda Richardson

Miranda Richardson's theatre credits include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Orlando and The Changeling. She has received three BAFTA nominations for her TV work and has won a Best Supporting Actress BAFTA for her role in Damage. Miranda has appeared in Blackadder II and Blackadder the Third.

Questions

  1. Based on these descriptions, what expectations do we have of the characters they play in Made in Dagenham? Describe the sorts of audiences each of these stars might appeal to.
  2. Sally Hawkins and Bob Hoskins are both known for being comedy actors. If the film had featured two actors known for serious roles, do you think this would impact upon your expectations of the film in terms of how it might deal with social issues? What if two unknown actors were cast in these roles?
  3. The message of Women's Rights and equal pay is a very serious and important one. What is the importance of the film's use of star quality in getting these messages across? Based upon the trailer and poster, what other qualities of the film might be effective in communicating these messages to a wider audience?