Kelly O’Sullivan and Lois Smith will co-star in “The Steel Harp.” The comedy is directed by O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, the filmmakers behind “Ghostlight.”
It marks one of the first leading movie roles for Smith, a 94-year-old character actress who won a Tony Award for “The Inheritance” in 2021. In addition to starring in the film, O’Sullivan wrote the script. Cherry Jones and Reed Birney co-star in the movie, which recently wrapped production in San Francisco.
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Smith plays Hanna, a cantankerous nonagenarian, who patrols the Golden Gate Bridge every day and intervenes when people get too close to the edge. On what was to be Hanna’s last day as a “bridge watcher,” she stops Amy (O’Sullivan), a younger woman as stubborn as Hanna herself, from jumping. As the holiday season sets in, Amy and Hanna challenge each others’ resolve and form a bond.
“The Steel Harp” is the second independent film Thompson and O’Sullivan have made this year. They are also currently in post-production on the coming-of-age film “Mouse,” which stars Sophie Okonedo, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Chloe Coleman, Tara Mallen, Iman Vellani and David Hyde Pierce. “The Steel Harp” is a co-production of Ley Line Entertainment and Fusion Entertainmen, which previously produced “Between the Temples.”
Smith’s first on-screen role was in 1955 opposite James Dean in “East of Eden.” She has appeared in such films as “Five Easy Pieces,” “Twister,” “Minority Report,” “Dead Man Walking” and “Ladybird.” In 2017, Smith starred as the title character in Michael Almereyda’s “Marjorie Prime,” receiving Gotham and Independent Spirit nominations for best supporting actress among other accolades. On stage, Smith was nominated for Tonys for her performances in “The Grapes of Wrath” and “Buried Child.”
In front of the camera, O’Sullivan is best known for her role in the award-winning 2020 film “Saint Frances,” which she wrote and Thompson directed. She received a Gotham Award nomination for breakthrough actor for her performance. On the small screen O’Sullivan appeared in two seasons of “Sirens.”
Jones is a Tony Award winner whose theater credits include “The Heiress” and “Doubt.” She also won an Emmy for “24” and has appeared in “Succession,” “Signs,” “Erin Brockovich” and “The Perfect Storm.” Birney is a Tony Award winner for “The Humans.” His screen credits include “Mass,” “The Menu” and “House of Cards.”
“The Steel Harp” producers are Thompson, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, Chelsea Krant, Adam Kersh, Rheagan Khearney and Pierce Cravens.
Ley Line Entertainment is a content development, production and financing company with projects spanning film, television, stage and music. Its films include “The Green Knight,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once, and “Death of a Unicorn.” The company also produced the Olivier-winning and Tony-nominated musical “& Juliet.” Upcoming projects include Adam Meek’s “Union County” starring Will Poulter and Noah Centineo. The company was formed in 2018 by Headington and Steele Page.
Thompson and O’Sullivan are repped by Gersh and Fusion Entertainment; Smith is repped by AKA and CornerStone; Jones is repped by WME; and Birney is repped by Paradigm and Suskin/Karshan Management.
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