OLIVIA Cooke is one of Hollywood’s rising stars and comes to the big screen again from today in new movie “The Limehouse Golem”.
The versatile former Royton and Crompton School pupil (23), has already had a starring role in tearjerker “Me and Earl” and “The Dying Girl”, as well as a long-running role in TV drama series “Bates Motel”.
Olivia’s latest role sees her play troubled Elizabeth Cree, accused of poisoning her husband John in the Limehouse district of Victorian London — a setting familiar to fans of BBC and Amazon show “Ripper Street”.
“The story is so grand and dramatic and has so many colours and layers — and it’s gritty,” said Olivia, of screenplay writer Jane Goldman’s adaptation of Peter Ackroyd’s book “Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem”.
“My character is all that and more. It’s like a million characters in one and selfishly, as an actress, to be able to play that was the appeal. She’s written so well, she’s powerful. It’s just nice to be able to play a role like that.”
British cinema favourite Bill Nighy plays Inspector John Kildare, whose investigation shockingly links Elizabeth’s deceased husband to an unsolved series of violent killings by a serial killer dubbed “The Limehouse Golem” — a link that might ultimately save her.
With time running out, Kildare and his partner Constable George Flood (Daniel Mays) must clear Elizabeth’s name and rescue her from the gallows.
The actors have praised the atmospheric set design at northern locations including Dalton Mills in Keighley, for helping to bring the world of the Limehouse Golem to life.
Olivia said: “It’s so helpful, because you only have a few films and pictures of that time to go by, so you can imagine all you want how it will be to step into this character and this era, but it only becomes a reality when you step on set.
“It feels so Gothic, yet so luxurious at the same time — and seedy, and dirty!”
Olivia will next be on screen in Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” early next year, and will be in another period drama, ITV’s adaptation of “Vanity Fair”, which starts shooting in September.
“The Limehouse Golem” is well worth seeking out on the big screen if you can find it – it’s not on at the ODEON in her hometown of Oldham but it can be seen at The Vue Manchester Printworks.