First images released from Madfabulous starring Callum Scott Howells

Stephen Price

First-look pictures have been released for the feature film Madfabulous – a fantastical reimagining set in the late 19^th Century and inspired by the flamboyant life of the fifth Marquess of Anglesey.

The film stars Callum Scott Howells (It’s a Sin, The Beautiful Game), as the young and rebellious aristocrat Henry Paget and Ruby Stokes (Lockwood & Co., Rocks) as Lily, Henry’s best friend and platonic lover whose life is sparked with exuberance by Henry’s arrival on the island.

Madfabulous follows the outrageous Henry Paget, who arrives from France to live at the family’s stunning castle on the island of Ynys Môn to lead a riotous life of splendour and extravagance.

Known for his gregarious theatrical expressions, exuberant sense of fashion and lavish social life, Paget spent a multi-million-pound fortune before his untimely death aged twenty-nine.

Supreme talent

Madfabulous is being produced by production company Mad as Birds and directed by BAFTA Cymru-winning Celyn Jones (director/writer – The Almond and the Seahorse, writer / producer – The Vanishing ), with principal photography filmed on Jones’ home island of Ynys Môn as well as Caernarfon and Pwllheli.

The film is further glittered with fabulous talent including screen icon Rupert Everett, Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls, Extraordinary), Guillaume Gallienne (The Regime, Marie Antoinette), Steve Speirs (The Tuckers, Afterlife), Kevin Eldon (Rings of Power, Trigger Point), Ian Puleston-Davies (Pennyworth, Tin Star), and Roger Evans (House of Dragon, Klokkenluider).

The screenplay is written by Ynys Môn-born Lisa Baker in her feature film debut. Nadia Jaynes (Marcella, The Responder) and Sean Marley (Poms, Six Minutes to Midnight) serve as producers, with Nicola Pearcey (Military Wives, The Almond and the Seahorse) as executive producer for Picnik Entertainment in addition to BAFTA and OSCAR-winning HODs in the crew. Casting is by Rebecca Wright Casting.

The film is supported by Ffilm Cymru Wales awarding National Lottery funding, and by the Welsh Government via Creative Wales.

Rebel

BAFTA nominee Callum Scott Howells said: “It is a real honour to be portraying Henry in this great story about the man and everything he represented.

“He is such a fascinating character; truly a rebel ahead of his time and has been inspiration to many artists throughout the years. I can’t wait to work with this great team to bring Henry to life on screen.”

Director Celyn Jones added: “Callum is the perfect actor for this role, a versatile and charismatic performer with a rockstar appeal… I’m sure Henry would approve.

“It’s a dream to be going back home to Ynys Môn to make this film, Lisa has written a fabulous script and I’m loving the creative team that’s gathering to help me tell this iconic tale about the original ’20th Century Boy’.

“Outrageous”

A fantastical reimagining set in the late 19^th Century and inspired by the life of the fifth Marquess of Anglesey, Madfabulous follows the outrageous Henry Paget, a flamboyant character, so ahead of his time that he smashes through society’s protocols of elitism and gender.

Known for his gregarious theatrical expressions, exuberant sense of fashion and lavish social life, Paget spends a multi-million-pound fortune before his untimely death aged twenty-nine.

A fantastical reimagining inspired by the life of Henry Paget, fifth Marquess of Anglesey, Madfabulous is a Mad As Birds production supported by Ffilm Cymru Wales awarding #NationalLottery funding, and by the @WelshGovernment via @CreativeWales. https://t.co/aBprQHuwKd pic.twitter.com/KUzIuRh0Zw

— Ffilm Cymru Wales (@FfilmCymruWales) August 13, 2024

Jones commented: “We have an embarrassment of riches in front of and behind the camera on this Madfabulous film. It’s wonderful to be telling this story, this way, right here and now. Henry was a true original and deserves this reimagining, revisiting his legend with a disco lens and a punk heart.

The screenplay is written by Ynys Môn-born Lisa Baker in her feature film debut.

The film is supported by Ffilm Cymru Wales awarding National Lottery funding, and by the Welsh Government via Creative Wales.

Who was Henry Paget?

Born in France in 1875, Henry Cyril Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey, styled Lord Paget until 1880 and Earl of Uxbridge between 1880 and 1898, and nicknamed “Toppy”, was a British peer who was notable during his short life for squandering his inheritance on a lavish social life and accumulating massive debts.

Regarded as the “black sheep” of the family, he was dubbed “the dancing marquess” for his Butterfly Dancing, wearing a voluminous robe of transparent white silk which would be waved like wings.

Paget’s father died in 1898, leaving his son a vast inheritance. This included land that brought in a rent of £110,000 (around $19million in today’s money).

Paget managed to burn through it, throwing cash away on jewels and furs. He built his own theatre to star in his own productions and also toured them around the UK.

He married briefly, but his wife left him within a few weeks. She later had the marriage annulled, saying it had never been consummated.

There is no evidence to confirm Paget’s sexuality, but since his death, many assume he wasn’t heterosexual.

By 1904, Paget was around three-quarters of a million dollars in debt ($90 million in today’s money). Declared bankrupt, he died in 1905 in Monte Carlo following a period of illness.

Conservative politician Vicary Gibbs wrote of Paget in 1910, saying that he “seems only to have existed for the purpose of giving a melancholy and unneeded illustration of the truth that a man with the finest prospects, may, by the wildest folly and extravagance, as Sir Thomas Browne says, ‘foully miscarry in the advantage of humanity, play away an uniterable life, and have lived in vain.’”

(Information courtesy of Queerty)