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‘Charming with a real edge’: Danny Boyle reveals reasons for filming in Norfolk town
An aerial view of Gorleston beach, earlier in the day as crowds start arriving Photo: Mike Page - Credit: Mike Page
World renowned director Danny Boyle has spoken of his attraction to a Norfolk town as a film set there got its first showing.
Last week Mr Boyle told entertainment magazine the Hollywood Reporter that his favourite day on the set of his new film Yesterday was when filming in Gorleston.
And now the Oscar-winning director has revealed the reasons he chose the seaside town for scenes in the movie.
In an interview with the BBC at the New York premiere of the Beatles-inspired film the director said he was drawn to towns such as Gorleston and Lowestoft that were a "bit forgotten".
The musical comedy was filmed across East Anglia last year and scenes shot on Gorleston beach had 6,000 extras singing along to some of the Beatles' biggest hits, including a punk-rock version of Help!
Film director Danny Boyle, right, speaks to the 6000 extras on Gorleston beach during filming, introducing two actors, Himesh Patel, the singer, and his manager played by Joel Fry (in green). Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2018
Mr Boyle told the broadcaster: "It was huge in Edwardian times, like Brighton - it was the place - yet it's fallen off the radar.
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"This was all filmed at the Pier Hotel, working port behind, with ships coming and going, giving a fitting industrial landscape to that song.
"The lads did also come from a great industrial port, after all."
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The film follows the rise to fame of singer-songwriter Jack Malik, the only person who remembers the Fab Four after an event in which they are wiped from the world's memory.
The 6000 extras on Gorleston beach enjoying the music during filming by Danny Boyle. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2018
The film's location supervisor Camilla Stephenson told the BBC that Mr Boyle "didn't want chocolate box" settings.
She said: "By choosing Gorleston, we've got an Edwardian seaside town that's charming but also has a real edge.
"He wanted it real but didn't want it gritty.
"Danny wanted to see the beauty, but not the quaint, English-village prettiness," she said.
Yesterday goes on general release on June 28 and Mr Boyle is billed to appear at Lowestoft First Light Festival next month.
