- Words Miriam Balanescu
Leigh-Anne has joined the cast of a Christmassy new flick - her first acting role.
One special piece of news that dropped this week has got us feeling festive already: Leigh-Anne Pinnock from dominant girl group Little Mix will be ascending to the screen for her first movie appearance in the film Boxing Day.
Playing Georgia, the ex-girlfriend of lead character Melvin, Pinnock’s role has been compared to “Julia Roberts from My Best Friend’s Wedding or Notting Hill”. Her ex-boyfriend Melvin is taken on by I May Destroy You‘s Aml Ameen, who is also the writer and director behind Boxing Day.
Talking to Digital Spy, Ameen explained: “I wanted someone with the characteristics of those roles. I was looking for someone who could sing too. My writing partner, Bruce Purnell, said that I had to check out this girl and showed me Leigh-Anne. I didn’t know Little Mix at the time.”
“One of the casting directors got in touch with her, and she filmed a tape. When I watched it, I saw something incredible in there. Now I know her really well, and she’s one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met in my life.”
The festive feature film will also be the UK’s first Christmas-tide romantic comedy with an all-Black cast.
Ameen added: “If the world stopped tomorrow and we only had Black British cinema to tell us what Black Brits were like, would it be one particular lens of a particular culture? London is one of the most diverse places on the planet, and showing that was really important to me.”
“I love Love Actually, I love Notting Hill, I love My Best Friend’s Wedding, Crazy Rich Asians, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I wanted to add to those stories, and give my personal adage to a genre I love so much too.”
Boxing Day will be released in UK cinemas on 3rd December.
