Helen Mirren visits historic cinema and cemetery in Leeds while filming The Duke

Oscar-winning actress Dame Helen Mirren has filmed scenes for her new movie The Duke in Leeds this week.
Hyde Park Picture HouseHyde Park Picture House
Hyde Park Picture House

The 74-year-old has already posted images of the shoot in Bradford on Instagram, but this week the cast and crew appear to have moved to Leeds.

She shared a photo of herself in 1960s period costume outside the Hyde Park Picture House, and another image of the projection room inside the Grade II-listed cinema, which opened in 1914.

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First look at Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent in The Duke as filming begins in YorkshireShe referred to the picture house, which is currently being restored, as a 'lovely old cinema' and a 'gem' in the caption.

St George's Fields in WoodhouseSt George's Fields in Woodhouse
St George's Fields in Woodhouse

It is Britain's only surviving gas-lit cinema, and a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant awarded in 2019 will enable a second screen in the basement and a cafe to be added. The picture house has also appeared in TV productions including A is for Acid and The Great Train Robbery.

She then seems to have walked to the former Leeds General Cemetery at St George's Fields in nearby Woodhouse. The Victorian bural ground is home to more than 90,000 graves and had been part of the Univesity of Leeds campus since the 1960s. It is maintained as a landscaped open space.

Mirren captioned the image with an emotive description of Leeds' role in the Industrial Revolution, with references to young children who worked and died in the local mills.

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The actress is playing the wife of unlikely art thief Kempton Bunton in The Duke, which tells the story of the only successful theft of a painting in the history of the National Gallery. The film is set in 1961 and Jim Broadbent has been cast as Bunton.

Helen Mirren poses with hen party and enjoys curry during night out in BradfordScenes have already been shot at Bradford City Hall and Cartwright Hall, the civic art gallery in Lister Park. Mirren also posted photos on Instagram of her enjoying her downtime at the Alhambra Theatre panto, Mumtaz restaurant and the bar of the Great Victoria Hotel.

Her passion for Bradford has impressed members of the Bradford Civic Society so much that they have awarded her honorary membership, and the group have seen an upturn in enquiries as a result of her patronage.