‘Byzantium’, the latest film by Irish director Neil Jordan (The Borgias, Ondine) is set to begin shooting on location in Hastings, UK in the first week of December, moving to Ireland in mid-December until the beginning of February.

The fantasy thriller project is confirmed to shoot in Ardmore Studios and around the Dublin and Wicklow area. Producers at Irish production company Parallel Films are also currently scouting Irish locations in the West and South West of the country.

‘Byzantium’ was written by Moira Buffini and will star IFTA winning Irish actress Saoirse Ronan (Hanna, Atonement), British actress Gemma Arterton (Prince of Persia, Quantum of Solace) and ‘X-Men’ star Caleb Landry.

Hot on the heels of ‘Twilight’, Neil Jordan’s flick ’Byzantium’ is a thriller which tells the story of a mother and daughter vampire duo, who form a deadly pact. Other cast members include Brit favourites Sam Riley (Brighton Rock, 13) and Daniel Mays (The Adventures of Tintin, Doctor Who).

’Byzantium’ is a co-production between Parallel Films and UK production company Number 9 and is expected to release in 2012. Producers are Alan Moloney (Neverland) of Parallel films and Liz Karlsen (Made in Dagenham) of Number 9 Films and Stephen Woolley (Perrier’s Bounty).

The film carries an estimated mid-range budget with funding support from Irish Film Board and the UK Film Council.

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SAOIRSE Ronan is scaling new heights with noteperfect preparations for her latest role.

The young star has confounded musical experts by learning to play a complicated Beethoven piano sonata in just 12 weeks, despite having never played the instrument before.

The 17-year-old also stunned director Neil Jordan and left him “speechless” with her grasp of a difficult piece that even accomplished pianists find tricky.

Ms Ronan had never had a piano lesson in her life when Mr Jordan cast her as a music-loving vampire in his upcoming movie ‘Byzantium’.

The actress will play one half of a mother and daughter duo who arrive in a small English town in the movie, which co-stars Gemma Arterton and begins shooting in the UK and Bray’s Ardmore Studios next month.

“There’s this scene in the film where my vampire characters sits down to play an old piano and entrances everyone with her playing,” Ms Ronan revealed yesterday.

Mr Jordan had expected the Co Carlow teenager to mime her way through Beethoven’s ‘Piano Sonata Opus 2, No 3’.

Lessons

But he’d underestimated the iron will of ‘The Lovely Bones’ star, who immediately went in search of sheet music for the movement and enlisted the help of classically trained pianist and teacher Yvonne Collier, based in Bunclody, Co Wexford.

“My vampire Eleanor is 200 years old in the film and had been playing piano that long, so there was a bit of pressure but I wanted it to look real,” she added.

Ms Ronan rented a baby grand piano and began lessons, putting in two hours a day to get the complicated fingerwork just right. And her progress was simply “miraculous”, said Ms Collier, who watched her young protege in amazement as she got to grips with the difficult piece.

“I started teaching Saoirse the piano with little exercises so she could learn the notes,” Ms Collier said.

“Then we did lots of Lady GaGa pieces before moving on to Beethoven. Since her very first piano lesson it is truly remarkable what Saoirse can now do on the piano.

“The E minor middle section of the piece involves the left hand crossing over the right; a technique very difficult to master even with years of experience but one that Saoirse has mastered within a few weeks,” she said.

Ms Collier said she was encouraging the young actress to continue with the musical studies she’d shown such an aptitude for. “She can master anything she puts her mind to,” Ms Collier added.

Conor Linehan, piano teacher at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, said: “Beethoven’s ‘Piano Sonata Opus 2, No 3’ is real virtuoso piece.

Beethoven composed it as a young man and it’s a show-off piece. The idea that anyone could manage to play any part of that in just 12 or so weeks is absolutely incredible,” said Mr Linehan.

Saoirse’s proud dad Paul Ronan said: “She is such a perfectionist, she wouldn’t let me watch her practising until she got it just right.” Mr Ronan was so impressed with his daughter’s progress he ordered a new piano for her to practise on at the family home in Co Carlow.

“I filmed Saoirse playing on my iPhone and when I showed the clip to Neil (Jordan), he was speechless, absolutely speechless. Then he went off and found this Russian piece, ‘Shostakovich Prelude No 2’, in a minor which he also wants Saoirse to play in the film,” said Mr Ronan.

But all the piano scales could be having an adverse effect on the teenager’s social life.

Asked if she had a boyfriend yesterday, Ms Ronan joked: “I have a romantic relationship with my piano.”

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Arterton had weather on her mind. “I’m glad it’s not too hot today — can you imagine, we’d melt in this plastic tent,” she said. “Everyone is wearing leather and tweed, so I’m grateful the good old English weather came through.” The bubbly Arterton is headed to Dublin next week to begin filming “Byzantium,” directed by Neil Jordan. “I’m playing Saoirse Ronan’s mum, would you believe? That makes me feel old.”

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Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men: First Class) has landed the male lead role in Neil Jordan’s vampire drama Byzantium. The film stars Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton as a daughter and mother who are vampires who arrive in a small British town. According to Variety, they reveal their secret to the town and the daughter begins a relationship with teenager dying of leukemia (Jones) which in turns forces him to struggle with his mortality, causing Saorsie Ronan’s character to struggle with her own immortality. When we first reported on the film back in May, the cast also included Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, and Jeremy Irvine (War Horse), but there’s no mention of them in Vulture’s story. Hopefully Fiennes and Carter are still on board (I haven’t seen Irvine in anything so I can’t really judge either way).

Jones was one of the weaker cast members in First Class, but in all fairness his character was broadly drawn and he didn’t get much screen time. He’ll next be seen alongside Mark Wahlberg in the crime-thriller Contraband.

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