Me and Orson Welles Character Card: Muriel Brassier (Kelly Reilly)

Leading ladies Muriel Brassler (Portia) and Evelyn Allen (Calpurnia), though accomplished stage actresses, were described by Houseman as 'decorative, adequate and hardly memorable'.

Rising stage and screen star Kelly Reilly enjoys playing Orson's temperamental leading lady, Muriel Brassler: "It's fun, because you like to think that you are playing somebody so different from you. I hope I am, because Muriel is from New York and she can be quite difficult, but only in the way that she is very concerned with how she looks, so everything is all about her. But if you think about this time in the '30s, women really were still second to the guys, they just had to look good. And she knows that, so she uses it. But I think she was also a very, very competent actress, so it's nice to be able to delve in. There's also the funny side – behind the scenes. We see this façade of actors but we never really get to see what their process is. And it's quite nice to see the silliness of it all – 'how do I look?' – looking in the mirror backstage before she goes on. You see her nerves and insecurities and then she goes on to create this world, to create this illusion."

Kelly is well known for her work on stage, where she is one of Britain's most sought after actresses. In 2008 she played Desdemona to Chiwetel Ejoifor's "Othello" at the Donmar Warehouse, with Ewan MacGregor co-starring. The production earned numerous award nods, including an Olivier Best Actress nomination for Kelly (for her second time), as well as winning the South Bank Show Award for Theatre. In 2004, she was the youngest ever actress to be nominated as Best Actress at the Lawrence Olivier Awards, and was also nominated as Best Actress at Evening Standard Theatre awards for her portrayal of Miss Julie in the Donmar production "After Miss Julie," directed by Michael Grandage. She received praise for her role in "Look Back in Anger," opposite David Tennant at the Edinburgh Lyceum Theatre and previously stole the show in The Comedy Theatre production of "Sexual Perversity in Chicago." Last year she played a lead role in the Royal Court production "Piano/Forte," part of the Royal Court's 50th anniversary yeaR. Kelly received a Best Actress nomination at the 2008 British Independent Film Awards, for her riveting performance in James Watkins debut thriller, 'Eden Lake' opposite Michael Fassbender. She also gained international acclaim playing a supporting lead role as Maureen in the Stephen Frears directed film "Mrs Henderson Present", a role for which she won Best Newcomer at the London Critics Circle Film Awards 2006 and was nominated as Best Supporting Actress at the British Independent Film Awards in 2005. Also in the same year, she appeared in Laurence Dunmore's directorial debut "The Libertine'"and generated interest for her in the re-make of "Pride and Prejudice".

It was for her roles in these three films that she was awarded the Steinmetz Award for Best Breakthrough at the 2006 pre-BAFTA London Party. Additionally, Kelly won the Chopard Award for Best Newcomer at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, as well as a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the prestigious Cesar Awards for her performance as Wendy in the successful French film "Les Poupees Russes" (Russian Dolls), directed by Cedric Klapisch, a sequel to the award-winning "Auberge Espanol" in which she had lead roles. Other films credits include "Dead Bodies", "Last Orders", "Peaches", "Maybe Baby'" and "Puffball". Other theatre credits include parts in, 'A Prayer for Owen Meaney' (Royal National Theatre), "Blasted" (Royal Court), "The Graduate" (Gielgud Theatre), "Three Sisters" (for which she was nominated as Actress in a Supporting Role for the Barclays TMA Awards) and 'The London Cuckolds' (Royal National Theatre) for which she earned an Ian Charleston Award. Later this year she will also be seen in Warner Brother's epic new adaptation of "Sherlock Holmes", alongside Robert Downey Jr in the title role with Guy Ritchie directing. Kelly also stars in "Meant to be", a romantic comedy directed by Paul Breuls and "Triage", a political thriller, directed by Danis Tanovic in which she stars alongside Colin Farrell. Also coming up, Kelly will revisit her lead role of DC Anna Travis in the second series of Lynda La Plante's adaptation "Above Suspicion", a television drama directed by Chris Menaul and co-starring Ciaran Hinds.

Based in real theatrical history, Me and Orson Welles is a romantic coming-of-age story about a teenage actor who lucks into a role in Julius Caesar as it's being re-imagined by a brilliant, impetuous young director named Orson Welles at his newly-founded Mercury Theater in NYC, 1937. The rollercoaster week leading up to opening night has the charismatic-but-sometimes-cruel Welles (impressive newcomer ChristIan McKay) staking his career on this risky production while Richard (Zac Efron) mixes with everyone from starlets to stagehands in behind-the-scenes adventures bound to change him. Claire Danes co-stars as Sonja Jones, the unapologetically ambitious assistant to Welles whom Richard tries to woo. Ben Chaplin plays Mercury Theater regular George Coulouris. Zoe Kazan, Eddie Marsan, Kelly Reilly and James Tupper are among the talented ensemble cast.

The fast-moving screenplay by Holly Gent Palmo and Vince Palmo is based on Robert Kaplow's meticulously researched novel of the same name. Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater is at the helm of the CinemaNX and Detour Film production, opening nationally in select cities November 25, 2009.

Photos by Liam Daniel, Copyright CinemaNX Films One Ltd.