Photo: Amy Sussman / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
ELIZABETH HURLEY & son/director DAMIEN HURLEY spoke to Bill about their new film STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL, in theaters April 5
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ABOUT ELIZABETH HURLEY
English model and actress Elizabeth Hurley stars in the Lionsgate/E! series The Royals, playing the title role of "Queen Helena". She previously recurred in Gossip Girl for Warner Bros./CW playing the role of Diana Payne. Elizabeth recently shot the movie VIKTOR opposite Gerard Depardieu and prior to that made more than two dozen movies. Her personal favorites are Austin Powers with Mike Myers, Bedazzled with Brendan Fraser and The Weight of Water with Sean Penn. She also produced several movies starring, Hugh Grant including Extreme Measures and Mickey Blue Eyes, under their jointly owned Simian Films production company. Elizabeth has appeared on the front cover of British Vogue five times as well as Harper's Bazaar, GQ, Esquire, Elle, Vanity Fair and Tatler's. In the mid-1990s she became the famous face of Estée Lauder's beauty campaigns.
ABOUT DAMIEN HURLEY
Hurley began directing short films at 8 years old and made his acting debut in NBC's The Royals when he was 14. Damian graduated from Wellington College during the Covid-19 pandemic. That same year, he wrote, directed, edited and starred in The Boy on the Beach, a short film that caught the attention of an executive at Lionsgate, who expressed interest in Hurley writing and directing a feature. At just 20, Hurley wrote and directed his first feature film, Strictly Confidential. It is set to be released by Lionsgate on April 5th, 2024, with a limited theatrical release before going to streamers. It stars young British actors Georgia Lock, Lauren McQueen and Freddie Thorp, with Elizabeth Hurley in a supporting role. Damian broke into the fashion scene at just 17, after signing a one-year exclusive contract with the legendary Steven Meisel, who shot Hurley as the face of a Pat McGrath campaign. Following the campaign's success, Hurley was brought back for a second McGrath campaign alongside Irina Shayk and Naomi Campbell, also shot by Meisel. Hurley has since gone on to work with some of the most acclaimed photographers in the industry, including Mert and Marcus, Ellen Von Unwerth and Luigi and Iango.
Dmien: "During the making of my first ever short film back in 2010- when I was 8- my mother promised me she'd be in my first feature; true to her word, the minute this film was greenlit, my mother dropped everything and raced out to the beautiful Caribbean to help. We only had 18 days to shoot the whole feature, so the shorthand my mother and I have served us well over the intense few weeks. The power dynamic between a director and actor is complicated at the best of times, even more so when factoring in it being a child bossing around their parent, but it was a joy to come to work and tackle each day together".
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL is the story of a haunted young woman who finds herself drawn into a world of seduction, duplicity, and betrayal as she desperately tries to uncover the mystery surrounding her best friend's suicide.
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL SYNOPSIS (IN THEATERS APRIL 5th)
Mia is haunted by the suicide of her best friend, Rebecca. A year on from Rebecca's death, Mia accepts an invitation from Rebecca's family to their home in the Caribbean, where her college friends are assembling to commemorate Rebecca on the anniversary of her death. Once on the island, Mia is plagued by suspicions that there's more to Rebecca's death than meets the eye; gradually, she learns that both Rebecca's family and each of the guests are harboring deadly secrets, all with direct ties to Rebecca. Mia delves into Rebecca's past, desperate to uncover what really happened that fateful day last summer. As more deceptions come to light, Mia finds herself drawn into a world of sex, duplicity and betrayal. Despite the dangers that lurk at every corner, Mia is relentless, determined to uncover the truth... but at what cost? Are some secrets meant to stay buried?
Director Damian Hurley Statement
When I was 17, a dear friend of mine took her own life. It was a devastating loss- the first tragedy many of my friends had known. I saw some bravely carry on. I saw some flounder. And I watched in confusion as a select few slipped into a strange reverie I couldn't comprehend; a resolute disbelief, a total refusal to accept what had happened. When my father took his own life the following year, I understood those select few all too well.
When writing Strictly Confidential, I forced myself back into my grief and immersed myself into the aftermath of my father's death; it was agonizing, but I harnessed every inch of trauma, exploited every morsel of pain, and molded them into my protagonist, Mia. This film is incredibly raw and emotional. During the shoot, I wrote the word 'despair' on my arm each morning so it would be at the forefront of my mind when directing my lead actress, Georgia Lock (Mia). It was imperative that the audience could infiltrate Mia's tortured mind; I needed them to feel her anguish, to resonate with her pain. Anyone who has suffered great grief, and subsequent betrayal, knows there are few things less consuming. Writing and directing my first feature was both immensely challenging and genuinely thrilling; few have the opportunity to tell their story at such a young age and so early in their careers. To work tirelessly alongside such a committed and talented cast, including my exceptional mother, was truly inspiring. I'm eternally grateful to all involved for trusting and believing in me.
I produced the concept for Strictly Confidential when I was 17, in the aftermath of losing a close friend to suicide. I wrote a rough synopsis and attempted to write the first act, but it was all too raw. I wasn't yet ready to tell the story. Fast forward three years later. In a show of true divine intervention, the very day MSR Media asked me to write and direct a feature film for them, I stumbled across my original synopsis for Strictly Confidential, stashed in a dusty drawer in my study. In the three-year interim, I'd lost a parent to suicide. Right then, I knew I had the experience to bring this story to life. I wanted the location to play an integral part in the story and become a character in its own right; I had already shot on the exquisite island of Nevis and knew right away that the raw and unspoiled landscape would be perfect. I hibernated away with my laptop and, within a whirlwind few months, we were ready to go.
Strictly Confidential is a story of jealousy, betrayal, and obsession. By the time I handed in my final draft, I was physically and emotionally drained. The film explores sensitive, controversial, and taboo themes, and I'm genuinely proud to have brought this story to life.