Trailer
Plot summary
After moving into a house in a wealthy part of Camden, the writer Alan Bennett meets Miss Mary Shepherd, an irritable, eccentric and unsanitary homeless woman who lives in a Bedford van and squats outside homes on Gloucester Crescent. Neighbors bring her presents and food, and social workers look in on her. When two youths shake the van and shout at her, waking her from a nightmare, Bennett worries and raises the idea of letting her park in his driveway. A wealthy neighbor buys her a new van, and she moves onto his property, where she stays for fifteen years. Bennett keeps up his writing while watching over Shepherd and looking after his increasingly invalid mother. He often imagines philosophical discussions with himself.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Lady in the Van (2015)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Principal photography began in October 2014 at 23 Gloucester Crescent, Bennett's former house in Camden Town, where the real Miss Shepherd spent 15 years on his driveway; according to Hytner they never considered filming anywhere else.
- The surviving principal cast of Bennett's 2006 film The History Boys appear in cameo roles, among them Dominic Cooper as a theater actor, James Corden as a street trader, Sacha Dhawan as Dr Malik and Russell Tovey as a rent boy.
- Filming was a difficult experience for Smith because she spent most of her time confined to one van or another, and she joked that not a lot of method acting was required when one was dressed as she was, and in a van.
- Producer Kevin Loader called Viking Bay "the perfect location" and said the area had benefited by £40,000, as the 50-strong crew stayed locally and took advantage of the various restaurants and bars.
