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5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About ‘The Secret Scripture’ With Theo James

The buzz about Theo’s new movie role as a Catholic priest in the movie adaptation of the Sebastian Barry novel “The Secret Scripture” is anything but small-scale, and rightly so. One reason for that could very well be the star-studded cast that has signed on to the project. Big names such as Rooney Mara, Eric Bana, Jeremy Irons, Jack Reynor, and Vanessa Redgrave are all among the top billed cast that will become Theo’s co-stars this fall. There’s very little details so far on the progress of this production, but I thought it would be a good idea to put together a summary of what we know so far about it.

the secret scripture book

1. “The Secret Scripture” is a book-to-film adaptation of the 2008 Sebastian Barry novel of the same name. Goodreads summarizes it like this:

As a young woman, Roseanne McNulty was one of the most beautiful and beguiling girls in County Sligo, Ireland. Now, as her hundredth year draws near, she is a patient at Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital, and she decides to record the events of her life.

As Roseanne revisits her past, hiding the manuscript beneath the floorboards in her bedroom, she learns that Roscommon Hospital will be closed in a few months and that her caregiver, Dr. Grene, has been asked to evaluate the patients and decide if they can return to society. Roseanne is of particular interest to Dr. Grene, and as he researches her case he discovers a document written by a local priest that tells a very different story of Roseanne’s life than what she recalls. As doctor and patient attempt to understand each other, they begin to uncover long-buried secrets about themselves.

2. Theo will be playing the local priest referenced above in bold print, Father Gaunt, so as you can probably gather, he will not be the good guy in this story. Those that have only seen Theo play the good guy should see a totally different side of him here.

Photo manip of what Theo James could look like as a priest. Credit: divergentlife.com

Photo manipulation of what Theo James could look like as a priest. Photo Credit: divergentlife.com

3. The movie will be filmed in County Wicklow, and Sligo, County Sligo in Northern Ireland. Home to beautiful sceneries like the ones pictured below:

County Wicklow, Ireland. Photo Credit: Tripadvisor

County Sligo, Ireland. Photo Credit: Sligotourism.ie

4. The project is now in Pre-Production and is scheduled to start filming in September. This probably means that, depending on the filming schedule for his scenes, Theo will be expected to fly up to Northern Ireland right after Insurgent filming ends.

5. Theo James is replacing Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Mortal Instruments, Mission: Impossible 3) who was originally cast as Father Gaunt, but dropped out after the project was delayed.

The film is currently scheduled for a 2015 release. How excited are you about seeing Theo James tackle a role like this one?