EXCLUSIVE: Con O’Neill, the British actor who has starred in Happy Valley, The Penguin, and Chernobyl, will lead ANON, a short thriller film exploring anonymous hook-up culture.
ANON spotlights a brief encounter between a closeted taxi driver (O’Neill) and a young male passenger, which leads to a frightening exchange with life-altering consequences.
The story is written and directed by Dylan Brady, who penned an episode of Everything Now, Left Bank Pictures’ young adult Netflix series. Repped by Knight Hall Agency, he self-funded ANON, and the short will be shot entirely on dash cam in Brady’s hometown of Derby. Production begins next month.
O’Neill, who won an Olivier Award in 1988 for his turn in Blood Brothers, will star alongside Paddy Stafford (Doctor Who), Conor Deane (What It Feels Like for a Girl), Kiran Krishnakumar (Everything Now), and Guy Van Onselen.
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ANON is produced by Nycollas Abreu (Rhoda) and executive produced by Jack Casey (The Crow Girl), with cinematography by Michael Filocamo (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder). Production and costume design are by Paix Robinson (The History of Sound), with casting by Nathan Toth and Ollie Bazeley of Harkin & Toth (Femme).
Brady said: “Despite its complex subject matter, ANON is, in many ways, a love letter to my hometown, Derby. Making work in and about the Midlands is incredibly important to me, and I couldn’t be happier to be bringing this story to life with the help of the singular talent that is Con O’Neill.
“As commissioners become increasingly risk-averse and censorship creeps in – as forewarned by Russell T Davies in his excellent BAFTA Cymru speech – the space to tell even the most palatable queer stories is under attack. Now more than ever, I feel it is important to create work which authentically reflects the full complexity of queer experiences. I am inspired by transgressive stories that persist in the face of conservatism (such as What It Feels Like for a Girl and Pillion), and I strive to continue making work in that vein.”