Salon Pictures has announced that principal photography on My Name Is Lenny has wrapped after a four weeks shoot in the East End of London. The feature film, which added Academy Award nominated and BAFTA winning actor John Hurt (Alien, Midnight Express, The Elephant Man, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) to the cast, is being represented by the UK’s Embankment Films for worldwide sales, and will be distributed in the UK in 2017 by Lionsgate UK.

My Name Is Lenny is based on the true life story of Britain’s most notorious bare-knuckle fighter, Lenny McLean, also known as The Guv’nor. Josh Helman (X-Men: Apocalypse; Mad Max: Fury Road) stars as Britain’s toughest man, with BAFTA winner Chanel Cresswell (This Is England: 90; The Aliens) as his wife, Val McLean, and current UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping (Twin Peaks; xXx: Return of Xander Cage) as his arch rival, Roy ‘Pretty Boy’ Shaw. In addition to John Hurt, the supporting cast features Nick Moran (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1&2), Jennifer Brooke (Astral), Charley Palmer Rothwell (Legend, Ripper Street) and the current bare knuckle world champion fighter Decca Heggie.

My Name Is Lenny chronicles Lenny McLean’s origin as a young street fighter in 1970s East London, the haunting effects of horrific childhood abuse, and his bitter rivalry with Roy Shaw across three unlicensed boxing matches, culminating in Lenny taking the championship title of “The Guv’nor”.

In his later life, Lenny McLean went on to become a bestselling author, and won TV and film roles, the most well-known being “Barry the Baptist” in Guy Ritchie’s debut Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, shortly before passing away in 1998.

Salon has also produced the feature documentary The Guv’nor about McLean, which will be released on DVD from October 10th, again courtesy of Lionsgate.

Director Ron Scalpello said of the project:

“There are many East End legends that have been brought to the screen recently, but Lenny McLean’s story has always fascinated me. Paul van Carter’s and Martin Askew’s script goes beyond the hyper-masculinity of this giant of a man and looks at the construction of an invincible identity that was forged in trauma. We’ve attracted a wonderful and diverse cast to bring this daring, street-fighting man and his 70’s world to life. My Name Is Lenny will be a visceral, brutal and emotional experience. I, like many people, can’t wait to see Lenny’s story on the big screen.”

---

We hope you're enjoying BRWC. You should check us out on our social channels, subscribe to our newsletter, and tell your friends. BRWC is short for battleroyalewithcheese.

---

Trending on BRWC:

---

Cool Posts From Around the Web:

---

---