041002 The Express

April 10, 2002
The Express
Day and Night; Dougray 'paid back' as epic movie saved
by Kathryn Spencer, Julie Carpenter, Michael Leventhall, and Kate Bohdanowicz

JUST days after actor Dougray Scott shelled out GBP 80,000 of his own money to pay the crew's wages and rescue his beleaguered movie, Cromwell And Fairfax, he has been reimbursed.

The film has found last-minute new finance.

The Mission Impossible star as hailed as having personally saved the GBP 17million British period drama from collapse after it hit huge budget problems, declaring: "There are some things in life you ust cannot walk away from." Now it appears the eagerly-awaited English Civil War epic, co-starring Rupert Everett, Tim Roth and Olivia Williams, has found fresh backing.

Filming has been on and off since January due to the cashflow crisis. Its stars have reportedly agreed to defer their fees.

The new finance, says the film's producer Kevin Loader, comes in the form of investment from HanWay, Rockwood Edge Limited, Future Film Financing and DZ Bank.

Those who dipped into their own bank accounts - including Scottish-born Scott, who plays the romantic lead, military mastermind Sir Thomas Fairfax - have now had their money returned.

Just who else did shell out seems a matter of contention.

An insider source alleges actress and designer Sadie Frost, wife of Jude Law, and cofounder of the film's production company Natural Nylon, was one: "The rumour is that Sadie got money out of her own account - around GBP 20,000 - and handdelivered it in a taxi to pay location costs and petty cash."

But producer Loader told us yesterday: "Sadie is, of course, part of Natural Nylon but she was not asked to make a contribution to the film."

Whatever the ins and outs of that particular situation may be, he did assure us: "The film is now fully financed. Everyone is back on board and it's all back on track. We are filming at Hatfield House today. New financial arrangements are in place and everyone, including Dougray, has received back their money."