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The BBC announces casting for Lord of the Flies as filming begins
Cameras are rolling on screenwriter Jack Thorne's adaptation, with many of the young stars making their TV debuts
The BBC and Stan have announced casting for its forthcoming adaptation of William Golding's Lord of the Flies, adapted for television by the multi-BAFTA award winning writer Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials, Help, National Treasure, Enola Holmes) and directed by Marc Munden (Help, The Sympathizer). Produced by Eleven (Ten Pound Poms, Sex Education) for BBC iPlayer and BBC One in a co-production with Stan, who will air the drama in Australia, filming is now underway in Malaysia. Sony Pictures Television will distribute the series internationally.
The Lord of the Flies cast, many of whom are making their professional acting debuts, were auditioned following an open casting call, with no prior acting experience necessary. The process was led by multi-award winning casting director Nina Gold (Game of Thrones, The Power of the Dog, Baby Reindeer).
David McKenna will play Piggy alongside Winston Sawyers as Ralph, Lox Pratt as Jack, Ike Talbut as Simon, and Thomas Connor as Roger. Noah and Cassius Flemyng have been cast as the twins Sam and Eric, with Cornelius Brandreth as Maurice, and Tom Page-Turner as Bill, alongside an ensemble of more than 20 other boys playing the desert island camp's "big 'uns" and "little 'uns".
Also announced today, the multi-Oscar winning composer Hans Zimmer (Dune, Planet Earth, The Lion King), one of the biggest and highly lauded names in film and television, will co-create the series' original score with multi-Emmy nominated Kara Talve (Tattooist of Auschwitz, Prehistoric Planet) for Bleeding Fingers Music.
Lord of the Flies is the story of a group of young schoolchildren who find themselves stranded on a tropical island with no adults, following a deadly plane crash. In an attempt to remain civil, the boys organise themselves, led by Ralph and supported by the group's intellectual, Piggy. But Jack, who is in charge of signal fire duty, is more interested in hunting and vying for leadership and soon begins to draw other boys away from the order of the group and, ultimately, from hope to tragedy.
Jack Thorne's adaptation will be the first for television. Truthful to the original novel - set in the early 1950s on an unnamed Pacific island - Thorne's adaptation delves further into the book's emotive themes; human nature, the loss of innocence and boyhood masculinity. Each of the four episodes is titled after a character at the core of the story - Ralph, Piggy, Simon, and Jack - offering a subtly different perspective on the boys' collective plight and manner in which they cope with their predicament. The series is being made with the support of Lord of the Flies author William Golding's family.
Screenwriter and executive producer Jack Thorne says: "I still can't believe we have been given the opportunity to film this beautiful book. The first few days shooting show that our cast are extraordinary and that Marc is finding a whole new visual language in capturing the wonders of them and the beauty of Malaysia. He is an incredible storyteller. It is all so exciting."
Director Marc Munden says: "This iconic novel of class, conflict and tender male friendship has never been more relevant. It's a real privilege to be working with Jack Thorne once again, the wonderful cast of young actors we've assembled and the brilliant team at Eleven on this beautifully fresh adaptation."
Eleven's Executive Producer Joel Wilson says: "Marc is a visionary. It is a privilege to witness his skill in working with our young actors as he brings Jack's scripts to life. The visual language he has developed with Mark Wolf, our cinematographer ,would be a thing to behold in any environment. Here, capturing our excellent cast in the jungle, mountains and beaches of Malaysia, it is extraordinary. Hans has already shared his first sketches for the score, which are hugely inspiring. We are honoured to be working with him. I'm writing this as I watch our cast of more than thirty boys (between the ages of five and thirteen) file up our mobile Jetty onto the beach, feeling delighted we made this happen."
Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, says: "We're delighted to pass the conch to Jack Thorne, Marc Munden and this exceptionally talented young cast of stars in the making, who are telling this timeless story in such an epic and emotionally poignant way. Lord of the Flies is British storytelling at its finest and most thoughtful, and there is no better home for its first ever television adaptation than on the BBC."
Stan Chief Content Officer Cailah Scobie said: "One of the biggest books of the 20th century, Lord of the Flies has captivated readers for generations, is loved by millions, and this landmark adaptation is guaranteed to compel Australian audiences. Our collaboration with the BBC and the award-winning team at Eleven features a dynamic young cast from top-tier creative talent, and we look forward to sharing this impactful Stan Original Series with our audiences soon."
Commissioned by the BBC, Lord of the Flies (4x60) is an Eleven and One Shoe Films production backed by Sony Pictures Television for BBC iPlayer, BBC One and Stan. The series is written by Jack Thorne, directed by Marc Munden, and produced by Callum Devrell-Cameron (Sex Education, Hanna). The executive producers are Joel Wilson and Jamie Campbell for Eleven, Jack Thorne for One Shoe Films, Marc Munden, Nawfal Faizullah for the BBC, and Cailah Scobie and Amanda Duthie for Stan.
The series is filming now in Malaysia, ahead of further filming later this year in the UK.
Lord of the Flies, first published by Faber for what was then an unknown author, has become one of the most popular books on English curricula for the last 70 years. William Golding won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983.
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