Happy Go Lucky

About the Cast

SALLY HAWKINS

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY marks RADA-trained Sally Hawkins’ third collaboration with Mike Leigh.  She made her film debut as Samantha in 'All or Nothing', and was then seen as Susan in ‘Vera Drake’.  Other film roles include Matthew Vaughan's 'Layer Cake', John Curran’s ‘The Painted Veil’, Tom Shankland’s ‘Waz’, and, most recently, Woody Allen’s ‘Cassandra’s Dream’.

Her performance as Anne Elliott in the recent ITV production of Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion’ won the Golden Nymph Award for Best Actress at the Monte Carlo Television Festival 2007. Other television credits include leading roles in Simon Curtis’s adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s ’20, 000 Streets Under the Sky’, 'Tipping the Velvet', 'Byron', in which she played Mary Shelley, ‘The Young Visiters’, directed by David Yates, in which she starred opposite Jim Broadbent,  ‘Fingersmith’, and two series of ‘Little Britain’, as the recurring character Cathy.  She recently played the leading role in ‘Shiny, Shiny Bright New Hole In My Heart’ for the BBC, directed by Marc Munden.

Notable stage appearances include Howard Davies’s production of Lorca’s ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ at London’s National Theatre, and Ian Rickson’s production of Jez Butterworth’s ‘The Winterling’ at the Royal Court.

ALEXIS ZEGERMAN

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY is Alexis Zegerman’s film debut, but marks her second collaboration with Mike Leigh, following her appearance in his play ‘Two Thousand Years’ at the National Theatre.  A graduate of the Central School of Speech and Drama, she has also appeared in plays at London’s King’s Head and Chelsea theatres.

ANDREA RISEBOROUGH

A graduate of RADA, Andrea Riseborough won the Ian Charleson Award for best stage newcomer for her performances in the title role of ‘Miss Julie’ and as Isabella in ‘Measure for Measure’ both for director Peter Hall.  She also performed at the National Theatre in the highly-acclaimed ‘Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship’ and at the Royal Court in Bruce Norris’s ‘The Pain and the Itch’ for director Dominic Cooke.

On television she appeared in the drama series ‘Party Animals’ and in February 2008 was seen playing the young Margaret Thatcher in the drama ‘Margaret Thatcher – The Long Walk to Finchley’.

About the Director

MIKE LEIGH

Selected Filmography
Vera Drake (2004) -125 minutes
Academy Awards 2005 Nominations:
       Best Achievement in Directing
       Best Original Screenplay

All or Nothing (2001) - 128 minutes
Cannes Film Festival 2002
      In competition for Palme D’Or
European Film Awards 2002 Nominations
       Audience Award Best Director
       Best Director

Topsy-Turvy (1999) – 159 minutes
Academy Awards 2000 Nomination
      Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen