With only one week away from shooting his latest short 'As One', director Alan Powell still hadn't cast his leading man. He was confident though that someone would step into the role who was perfect. When he sat down to discuss the character of Maggie with his lead actress, muliple Olivier award winner, Janie Dee, he asked if she might know of anyone. It took a moment but a handful of names came to her. Neil Morrissey was one of those names. The offer went out and guess what?
"When you get a well-known actor wanting to play a role in your short film - and he's perfect for the role! - you'd be crazy to move ahead without him. Neil's schedule was tight for May and June and Janie is starting The Seagull mid-June. So I pushed the shoot off to mid-July. It just made sense. I feel very fortunate to have these incredibly talented actors involved." Powell beams.
Morrissey rose to prominance in the UK with his most famous role - that of Tony in 'Men Behaving Badly'. The series became the most popular UK sitcom of the 1990s and made Morrissey a national star. He continues to be an extremely busy actor.
As One also stars Edward MacLiam who was nominated for Best Supporting actor at IFTA for his role as Conor in Run & Jump, opposite Maxine Peake and Will Forte. Most might recognize Edward as Greg Douglas the character he played on Holby City from 2009-2012.
Among Powell's list of films are Phone Box and Sunday Punch, his most recent, which have screened at festivals worldwide garnerning awards and critical praise.