Julie Walters gives "Driving Lessons"
by Euan Kerr, Minnesota Public RadioAt the beginning of the new movie "Driving Lessons" a young man answers a help wanted ad in a church magazine.
The woman is Evie, a retired actress, who's a little eccentric.
St. Paul, Minn. — Evie is played by veteran British actor Julie Walters. Rupert Grint is Ben. He's better known to legions of Harry Potter fans as the red-haired Ron Weasley. Walters is also in the Potter films as Ron's mom, Mrs Weasley.
Evie drags the shy and unworldly Ben on a series of adventures, including making him drive her half the length of Britain.
"Driving Lessons" is based on the real life experiences of director Jeremy Brock. As a teenager he answered an ad and ended up cleaning the house of the famed stage actor Dame Peggy Ashcroft.
Jeremy Brock and Julie Walters visited the MPR studios recently. Brock quickly pointed out that Dame Peggy was nowhere near as badly behaved as his creation Evie. Julie Walters told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr she fell in love the script as soon as she read it.
