UNITED KINGDOM: World film premiere of "Kinky Boots", the film inspired by the true story of a family business saved from bankruptcy by manufacturing footwear for transvestites

There was plenty of glitz and glamour at the world film premiere of "Kinky Boots" in London on Tuesday (04, October) - a long way from the settings which inspired the comedy. The film tells the story of a Northampton shoe manufacturer's struggle to keep his almost bankrupt business afloat, and his unlikely partnership with a drag queen night club singer to save the failing shoe factory. The plan: to tap into a previously overlooked niche market, in this case, women's style shoes and boots manufactured for cross dressing men. Australian actor Joel Edgerton plays the straight laced Charlie Price, whose chance encounter with flamboyant transvestite singer Lola, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor leads to the successful partnership. Edgerton said there was no problem finding the right balance for the odd couple relationship. "Striking chemistry with Chiwetel was easy because we just got along straight away," said Edgerton. "As for playing a less flamboyant character, it was sort of a challenge in itself. Certainly most days I was quite envious of of what Chiwetel was getting to do, and he does such a fantastic job of it." For his part, Ejiofor said he wanted to avoid stereotypes when playing the larger than life Lola, who turns the conservative Northampton factory on its head. "I don't want to camp it up too much," explained the actor. "There's kind of a fine line, I think, between being too camp and getting into the world of caricature and... not, basically. I kind of wanted to walk the line between them." The "real Charlie Price", Steve Pateman, whose family business the movie "Kinky Boots" was both based on and dedicated to, was looking forward to a second viewing of the film with his family at the premiere. "It was great, although very strange for us, because you're actually seeing what we've lived through being played out on the screen with different people playing yourselves and your family and the workers," said Pateman. "It was very emotional for us." One of the cast, actor Nick Frost of "Shaun of the Dead", also had some personal insight to the story. Frost plays Don, the testosterone charged man's man of the factory, and most threatened by Lola's presence. "My Aunty Sheila worked in a shoe factory in Northampton, and she was made redundant, so I'd heard stories from her about how she got made redundant, so I knew of the story before I got there." "Kinky Boots" opens on general release on Friday (07, October).

ITN Source | October 6, 2005

Tags:. .inspired. .heard. .camp. .character. .certainly