THEY’RE the most infamous schoolgirls in the world.
Now the unruly rebels behind the doors of St Trinian’s are ready to wreak havoc across the country.
And trying to keep them in check will be two Huddersfield actresses.
Lena Headey and Jodie Whittaker – who both got their first taste of drama at Shelley College – have cameo roles as staff members in what is destined to be one of the film blockbusters of the year.
The 2007 version of St Trinian’s, out tomorrow, is populated by some of Britain’s most promising young talent (including Talulah Riley, Gemma Arterton and Russell Brand) as well as a few of its elder statespeople (in Colin Firth, Rupert Everett and Celia Imrie).
Headey – who starred as Spartan Queen Gorgo in the blockbuster 300 – is Miss Dickinson, a bespectacled teacher.
Whittaker, who made her film debut in Venus opposite Peter O’Toole, is perma-tanned secretary Beverly.
Reviewers claim she steals the show with one claiming: “Jodie Whittaker steals the film though, as sassy receptionist Beverly”.
“You’ll ’ave to forgive me,” she tells fellow character Carnaby apologetically, “but me brain doesn’t kick in until Wednesday after I’ve been canin’ it for the weekend!”
The idea for the new look at an old film came from Everett, after he worked with co-directors Barnaby Thompson and Oliver Parker on 2002’s The Importance Of Being Earnest.
“Rupert had long been interested in the idea of playing multiple characters in a film,” remembers Barnaby. “What’s more, he was a big fan of the original movies, which were adapted from Ronald Searle’s satirical cartoons.
“I think school is a great subject for a comedy movie,” Rupert explains. “Everyone goes to school. It’s one of the common experiences we all have – and hating it – well, not hating it, but resenting it.”
The first film, The Belles Of St Trinian’s, came out in 1954 and today’s filmmakers were adamant about modernising the concept. As such, they visited a number of real schools to tap into the lingo.
“We were really able to plug into the mindset of today’s girls, get a sense of which bands they are talking about, what cliques they had and what slang they were using,” says Oliver.
“St Trinian’s girls are always independent and in control, not afraid to say what they think and happy to bend the rules to get their own way,” Barnaby says.
The film joins the school in the midst of a dire financial crisis (thanks to the lackadaisical ways of headmistress Miss Fritton, played by Everett) and under threat of closure by Education Minister Geoffrey Thwaites (Firth).
One thing that has been kept to a minimum this time around is any kind of sauciness, although some of the girls do totter around in suspenders and there is a suggestion they run a phone sex line from their dorm.
