Actor tells of drama's message of hope for addicts
The star of a new docudrama exploring the subjects of addiction and mental health has told how it promises to show how "people can get better and things can change".
Stephen, set in Liverpool and the surrounding areas, is loosely based on the experiences of actor Stephen Giddings, who plays the lead role.
The plot unfolds as he takes on a role in a film production while recovering from gambling and alcohol addictions.
Director Melanie Manchot worked with a Liverpool recovery group and much of the supporting cast are members who have also battled addiction.
Giddings said drawing on his own experiences "definitely helped me become the character".
The 39-year-old said: "I could understand why he was doing the things that he was doing and how he was feeling and the mistakes that he was making.
"I was thinking I've been there and done it. I could take on board exactly how he was feeling."
The film was filmed in Liverpool and the surrounding areas including Kirkby where Giddings grew up in.
"When you see the film you will be able to tell the streets of Liverpool, definitely," he said.
The cast includes Kent Riley from Coronation Street and Eastenders star Michelle Collins, while most of the others featured are recovering addicts.
Director Ms Manchot said: "The people who have experience of substance addiction are probably the best people to act in this film because they speak from their own life experience.
"They bring all this kind of lived trauma to really kind of inhabit this world that they're depicting."
The film takes inspiration from the vintage film Arrest of Goodie, which was released in 1901 and also shot in Liverpool.
It depicts the arrest of bank worker and gambling addict Thomas Goudie. who was imprisoned for embezzling money to pay gambling debts.
Giddings, who is a psychiatric nurse, said: "I think this film can show that people can get better and things can change.
"There are better days ahead and it will pass."
Stephen is out in cinemas now and there will also be a screening and a Q&A with the director at Picturehouse at Fact, Liverpool, on 24 May.
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