Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to star Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle of friends through a number of social occasions as they each encounter romance. Andie MacDowell co-stars as Charles's love interest Carrie, with Kristin Scott Thomas, James Fleet, Simon Callow, John Hannah, Charlotte Coleman, David Bower, Corin Redgrave, and Rowan Atkinson in supporting roles.
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis is a British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Love Actually (2003), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), About Time (2013), and Yesterday (2019). He is also known for the drama War Horse (2011) and for having co-written the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and The Vicar of Dibley. His early career saw him write material for the BBC's Not the Nine O'Clock News and ITV's Spitting Image.
John David Hannah is a Scottish film and television actor. He came to prominence in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role as Matthew. His other film appearances include Sliding Doors (1998) and The Mummy trilogy (1999–2008). His television roles include: Dr Iain McCallum in McCallum (1995–1998); D.I. John Rebus in Rebus (2000–2001); Jack Roper in New Street Law (2006–2007); Jake Osbourne in Cold Blood (2007–2008), Quintus Lentulus Batiatus in Spartacus (2010–2011), Jack Cloth in A Touch of Cloth (2012–2014), Jason's father (Aeson) in the BBC series Atlantis (2013–2015), Dr Holden Radcliffe in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2016–2017), Colin in Overboard (2018), and Archie Wilson in the BBC series Trust Me.
Michael Cormac Newell is an English film and television director and producer. He won the BAFTA for Best Direction for Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), which also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film, and directed the films Donnie Brasco (1997) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).
David Haig Collum Ward is an English actor and playwright. He has appeared in West End productions and numerous television and film roles over a career spanning four decades.
Mat Fraser is an English rock musician, actor, writer and performance artist. He has thalidomide-induced phocomelia. In 2017, he was cast to play Shakespeare's Richard III at the Hull Truck Theatre as part of Hull City of Culture 2017.
Julian Peedle-Calloo is a British actor, writer, director and television presenter, he has been deaf since birth, and is a presenter of the BBC deaf magazine programme See Hear.
Liz Carr is an English actress, comedian, broadcaster and international disability rights activist.
Raza Jaffrey is a British actor and singer. He is known for his roles as Zafar Younis in the BBC One spy drama series Spooks (2004–2007) and Neal Hudson in the CBS medical drama Code Black (2015). He also had a recurring role as Aasar Khan in season 4 of the Showtime series Homeland (2014). More recently, he appeared in the NBC series The Enemy Within (2019) and the Starz series The Serpent Queen (2022–).
Kiruna Stamell is an Australian-British actress. After appearing in various series and films including Moulin Rouge! (2001), All the Small Things (2009) and Cast Offs (2009), she presented the Australian children's educational series Play School from 2018 to 2020. Since 2023, she has portrayed the role of Kirsty Millar on the British soap opera Doctors.
Justin Edgar is a British film director, screenwriter and producer.
Gary O'Donoghue is a British journalist, currently working for BBC News in Washington, D.C. as one of their North America political correspondents. He is one of the most prominent blind correspondents in British media.
Genevieve Barr is an English actress and writer of stage and screen. She played the lead role in the BBC award-winning series The Silence. Having grown up speaking orally, Barr learned sign language for this role.
Little Voices is a 2011 short student film that was directed and written by Christopher McFall. The film was released on 23 March 2011 and stars David Bower as a deaf man struggling to cope with losing his partner. Filming took place during August 2010.
The depiction of disability in the media plays a major role in molding the public perception of disability. Perceptions portrayed in the media directly influence the way people with disabilities are treated in current society. "[Media platforms] have been cited as a key site for the reinforcement of negative images and ideas in regard to people with disabilities."
Blue Apple Theatre is a theatre company based in Winchester, England. It was founded in 2005 by Jane Jessop to support the inclusion of actors with intellectual disabilities on mainstream stages. In May 2012, six Blue Apple actors toured a re-imagining of William Shakespeare's Hamlet around the south of England. They were the first actors with Down syndrome to perform the play professionally. In 2016 members of the company, four with Down syndrome, performed scenes from Shakespeare on stage in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at the Globe Theatre in London.
Sarah Gordy, MBE is a British actress who has Down syndrome. She is best known for her roles as Katie Thorne in The A Word and Ralph & Katie, Orlando Quine in Strike: The Silkworm, Lady Pamela Holland in the BBC TV series of Upstairs Downstairs, and Lucy Craddle in The Long Call. She has also acted in episodes of Call the Midwife, Holby City and Doctors. As well as these TV shows, she has acted in short films, radio dramas, commercials, and many theatre productions. In 2018 she became the first woman with Down syndrome to be made an MBE and the first person with Down syndrome to receive an honorary degree from a UK university.
Anthony James Heaton OBE is a British sculptor, disability rights activist and arts administrator, who was appointed an OBE in 2013 for services to the arts and the disability arts movement. He was CEO of the arts charity Shape until March 2017. In 2012, he won the competition to produce an installation celebrating Channel 4's involvement in the London 2012 Paralympic Games. This produced his 'Monument for the Unintended Performer'.
Jamie Beddard is one of the UK's leading disabled theatre practitioners. He is a writer, actor, director and workshop leader as well as a trainer and consultant. At present Jamie is co-director of Diverse City, Lead Artist of Extraordinary Bodies, and an Associate Artist at the New Wolsey Theatre.
Mandy Colleran is a comic, writer, actress and disability arts activist.
