Shutterstock

Doctor Who and Penny Dreadful actress Billie Piper has begun production on her feature directorial debut Rare Beasts.

Piper will star with Leo Bill (Peterloo), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Kerry Fox (Bright Star) and newcomer Toby Woolf (Summer Of Rockets) in the ‘anti rom-com’ about a career-driven single mother who falls in love with a charming traditionalist (Bill). She has also scripted.

Pic is being produced by Vaughan Sivell of Western Edge Pictures (Prevenge) in association with Moffen Media Limited. Executive Producers are Vaughan Sivell, Franki Goodwin, Mike Rattenbury, Will Kane for WEP, Paul Higgins for Fields Park, Jim Reeve and Robert Halmi for Moffen Media, Josh Varney and Ben Pugh for 42 and Billie Piper.

Piper said of the film, “Rare Beasts is a cautionary tale. Where do we all go after the fallout between men and women? And who do we really need at the end of it all? I’ve been longing to talk ‘dramatically’ about the world I see around me and ultimately, I’ve always wanted to make my own films. This is a wonderful moment.”

Piper is repped by Curtis Brown Agency, CAA and MGMT Management.