By Fred Topel | Images property of Universal Pictures
Talulah Riley plays one of the few women on a boat full of men in Pirate Radio. When rock n’ roll was banned in England in the ‘60s, rogue DJS would broadcast off the coast. Occasionally, groupies would come to spend time with the boys. Riley plays a wholesome girl who becomes the leading man’s first love.
Talulah Radio Fems Up Pirate Radio
“We did actually shoot sort of eight hours worth of footage so I was there quite a while,” Riley said. “We were staying in Dorset and going out on the boat every day. It was lovely. It was like a holiday for me because then I was like down there doing a bit of work, relax.”
There was also a fake boat on a set. “Yeah, the set was in some studio but the boat, I mean, best memories of the film obviously being on the boat itself. It’s just not the kind of thing you get to usually do.”
Pirate Radio
Riley also got to dress up in fabulous 1960s fashion. “I always like the dressing up part of getting a new character so it was fun, although the hemlines were ridiculously short so I was like walking around tugging, kind of surreptitiously trying to make it longer. No, it was really fun, little white lace-up, I had the wig. It definitely helps with character because it’s nothing I would ever, ever [wear]. I’m very drab in real life so it was kind of fun, made me more Marianne-ish.”
Music was ever present on the set. “We got the iPod so we literally had it all given to us initially so I don’t need to go and look for ‘60s music ever again. I’ve got it year by year. There were songs, like the song ‘Helena’ just really sticks in your head. It was something that you’d go home and you just couldn’t stop singing it. It was that thing where you were just singing the catchy ones over and over again. Obviously it’s all about the love of rock n’ roll and it’s like Richard’s a lost soul to rock. He knows his love. It’s really quite remarkable, but it’s true.”
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