Profiles

Stephen Frears was born in Leicester in 1941. He left the city when he was 12, and now at the age of 66 he's been nominated for the Best Director award for his film, 'The Queen', at the Oscars on 25 February 2007.

Frears has had a varied career, with films like the Joe Orton (another Leicester lad) biopic, 'Prick Up Your Ears' and 'Dangerous Liasons' earning him critical acclaim.

In 1990 he was nominated as Best Director for 'The Grifters', but failed to pick up the award, and now he's been nominated again for his latest film, 'The Queen', starring Dame Helen Mirren and James Cromwell.

BBC Leicester's Tony Wadsworth spoke to Stephen Frears about his memories of Leicester, the making of 'The Queen' and his hopes for the Oscars…

Frears says making a film about such a well-known figure was a big undertaking:

"The truth is I've known of the Queen or the Queen has been in my life for 60 years, so it’s actually something very familiar.

"And then I worked with very intelligent people like Helen and like the writer, but in truth the film is just a guess. It's probably quite a good guess.

With Helen Mirren at the Venice Film Festival

"I mean, I don't know what happens in those rooms, nobody tells me what goes on, so it is just a guess.

"You know, you read around and you ask people and you talk to people, but in the end you don't speak to the real people themselves, so it’s hard to call it anything more than an educated guess."

Frears says he's amazed by the success of 'The Queen' as while he thought it was a good film, there's a big difference between his good opinion and being nominated for an Oscar.

The film has also won a host of other awards, including BAFTAs, Golden Globes, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and Venice Film Festival Awards.

Frears is competing for the Best Director Oscar against Clint Eastwood ('Letters from Iwo Jima'), Paul Greengrass ('United 93'), Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu ('Babel') and Martin Scorsese ('The Departed').

But will Frears bring home the coveted statuette? All of Leicester will be holding their breath next Sunday night!