Development
Lee Hall developed Billy Elliot from his play Dancer, which premiered as a rehearsed reading in 1998 at the Live Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne.[3] He was heavily influenced by photographer Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen's book Step by Step, about a dancing school in nearby North Shields. Writing in 2009, Hall said that "almost every frame of Billy Elliot was influenced by Step by Step [...] as every member of the design team carried around their own copy."[4]
Hall met with director Stephen Daldry, who was working at the Royal Court Theatre at the time. At first, Daldry was not convinced with the script, but said, "I liked the emotional honesty of Billy Elliot. Also Lee writes brilliant kids. And there's a series of themes in it I rather enjoyed: Grief; finding means of self-identification through some sort of creative act, in this case dance; and the miner's strike itself."[5] Working Title Films approached Daldry to become director and he accepted the offer. The BBC financed the project.[6]
Casting
Thousands of boys were considered for the lead role. The producers were looking for a boy in a specific geographical area with a dance background. Jamie Bell had about seven auditions in total before eventually in mid-1999, it was announced that he would play the lead role in the film.[5] Peter Darling, the film's choreographer, worked with Bell for "eight hours a day for three months, finding out what drove him as a dancer." Julie Walters accepted the role of Sandra Wilkinson. Walters called the script "moving", explaining, "It was a diamond in the sand [...] I loved the character, and the fact that she was disappointed on every level possible. She was so grim and jaded. Her relationship with the boy was so unusual".[7]
In preparation for filming, Gary Lewis met with miners which he said was beneficial.[8] Lewis stated that his own personal experience of the miners' strike made the role enjoyable. "My family and I were very active in supporting the miners: I stood in picket lines, I raised money for the miners and I was involved in the whole campaign to stop [...] closing the pits. Basically, it was the state that launched a complete attack on a section of the work force, a section of the working class. Lots of people responded with solidarity and that was a key element in the script: solidarity working at different levels, the collective solidarity, the economic solidarity."[8]
Filming
Terraced homes on Avon Street, Easington Colliery, were used for filming, where Andrew and Alnwick Streets once stood.Principal photography lasted seven weeks, beginning in August 1999.[5][9] Most of the film, including the interior of the Elliot home at 5 Alnwick Street, was shot on location in the Easington Colliery area, with the producers using over 400 locals as extras.[10] The mining scenes were filmed at the Ellington and Lynemouth Colliery in Northumberland, with some filming in Dawdon, Middlesbrough and Newcastle upon Tyne.[11] Andrew Street and Alnwick Street, where the characters live, were two of several streets demolished in 2003 after becoming derelict.[12] The cemetery scene was filmed at Lynemouth Cemetery.[13] School scenes were filmed in Langley Park Primary School.[14] Other filming locations include the Green Drive Railway Viaduct in Seaham, Tees Transporter Bridge, New Wardour Castle and Theatre Royal in Haymarket.[14][15]
Daldry remarked in an interview: "The shooting schedule was a nightmare; we only had seven weeks. Kids can only work nine to five and you can't work Saturdays. And the kid had to dance the whole time. So it was tight."[5] Producer Jon Finn spoke of the difficulties of seeking filming locations: "We didn't realise how hard it would be to find working pits."[9]
