EXCLUSIVE: Niamh Algar, Sam Claflin and Alisha Weir are leading the cast of Jim O’Hanlon’s The Last Days Of Rabbit Hayes, which has wrapped produ
EXCLUSIVE: Niamh Algar, Sam Claflin and Alisha Weir are leading the cast of Jim O’Hanlon’s The Last Days Of Rabbit Hayes, which has wrapped production in Dublin.
Anna McPartlin has adapted her own novel for the film. Colm Meaney, Sinead Cusack, Tom Glynn Carney and Ruth Bradley are also among the cast.
The story follows Rabbit Hayes (Algar), a woman who loves her ordinary life even as it approaches its final days. She must come to terms with her past and a future she won’t be part of, while her close-knit, positive family grapples with the reality of losing her and decides what will happen to Juliet (Weir), Rabbit’s 14-year-old daughter.
The Irish-UK-Dutch co-production is produced by Jessie Fisk of Ireland’s Feline Films, in co-production with Collie McCarthy and Diarmuid Hughes for Ireland’s Forty Foot Pictures and Joram Willink and Maike Neve for the Netherlands’ Bind Film, in association with Anna McPartlin for AMcP Films and Alan Keane for Hotdrop Films. Executive producers are Paradiso Films and Finite Films.
Backers on the film include Screen Ireland, the UK Global Screen Fund, the Netherlands Film Fund, Coimisiun na Mean and RTE.
Algar, Claflin and Glynn Carney have all previously been named Screen UK-Ireland Stars of Tomorrow, in 2018, 2010 and 2017 respectively.
Irish filmmaker O’Hanlon has previously directed films including 100 Streets starring Idris Elba and Gemma Arterton; two Your Christmas Or Mine films for Amazon; and upcoming period comedy Fackham Hall, written by Jimmy Carr.
Fisk’s films as producer include Peter Mackie Burns’ Rialto and Jim Sheridan’s Inside Apollo House, while her credits through Feline Films include Nathalie Biancheri’s 2022 Toronto title Wolf.
“I fell in love with Rabbit Hayes and her wonderfully funny, quirky, idiosyncratic Irish family the moment I picked up Anna McPartlin’s brilliant novel,” said O’Hanlon. “It’s a testament to Anna’s beautiful screenplay that we’ve been able to pull together such an amazing cast and crew to create a film bursting with love and loss, wit and warmth, music and laughter.”
“Rabbit Hayes has always been about love, laughter and hope,” said McPartlin, who has previously written for television dramas including The Gone and Striking Out. “Adapting her story for the screen has been a dream come true, and sharing that joy with such an incredible team, both on and off screen, has been the greatest gift. This one’s deeply personal.”
“The Last Days Of Rabbit Hayes is a tonic to the usual stories of loss,” added Fisk. “Instead of breaking us, it celebrates the joy of life, the strength of family, and the power of laughter.”
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