An actor from Falmouth who produced and starred in a horror film little knowing a brain tumour was growing inside his head will see the movie premiered at a prestigious film festival.
Craig Russell, who featured in the Packet in March calling for more funding for brain tumour research, starred in the film called Protein which is being premiered at the Fright Fest Festival in London’s Leicester Square on August 24.
The film, written and directed by Tony Burke, is produced by Craig along with Tom Gripper and Dan Bailey of Broadside Films.
Set and shot in South Wales it tells the story of a gym obsessed serial killer who murders and eats a local drug dealer for their protein, inadvertently sparking a brutal and blood thirsty turf war between rival gangs.
“While I had that tumour I produced and played the lead in a movie that was shot during lockdown,” Craig told the Packet.
“I then worked on post production from my hospital bed.”
The film will receive a West End premiere as part of the Fright Fest film festival, one of the largest genre festivals on the planet.
Craig’s previous work includes playing Mark Antony on Netflix’s Queen Cleopatra produced by Will Smith, Riches on Amazon, The Last Kingdom (Netflix) plus numerous other soaps, dramas and feature films.
The cast in the new film includes Charlie Dale from Casualty, Steven Meo (Gavin and Stacey), Andrea Hall (The Dumping Ground) and Kai Owen (Hollyoaks).
“We shot the film during the breaks in lockdown all the while unbeknownst to me the brain tumour was slowly taking hold,” said Craig. “The project was inevitably delayed thanks to Covid but we eventually got back on our feet and then during post production the tumour was discovered and removed during an emergency operation. I then got back to work on it from my hospital bed as I recovered.”
He said the tumour has gone and aside from the odd niggle, foggy memory he's back to full health
"All thanks to the support from my wife Kate, my family, friends and our incredible NHS," he said.
The film will receive its world premiere in Leicester Square in London on August 24th at 6pm as part of the Fright Fest Film Festival, one the largest genre festivals on the planet.
You can watch the trailer HERE
It’s the insta handle is: protein_film
And the X handle is: @protein_film
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