Variety reports that Aidan Turner and Ella Lily Hyland (Silent Roar) will portray tennis coach and player, respectively, in the upcoming Prime Video drama Fifteen-Love. This is Hania Elkington’s debut series, and it centres on the connection between a young tennis prodigy and the mentor who guided her to the top. The public’s perception of the couple’s relationship changed after allegations were made. The protagonist of Fifteen-Love is a fictitious tennis prodigy named Justine Pearce (Hyland), whose meteoric rise to fame in Grand Slam Tennis shocked the sporting world. She was exceptionally close to winning the French Open with the support of her coach, Glenn Lapthorn (Turner).
But in the semi-final match, she was injured severely, and her career was cut tragically short. The next shock occurs five years later, at the age of 22, when she returns to her previous tennis academy, Longwood, to work as a therapist, only to make serious claims against her former instructor. Hearing her version of the tale changes the backdrop of her and Glenn’s seemingly peaceful relationship, forcing others to reevaluate their apparent success as a couple. Elkington co-creates and co-executive produces World Productions’ shows with Jake Lushington (Vigil). Produced by Natasha Romaniuk (The Suspect), and directed by Eva Riley (Perfect Ten) and Toby MacDonald (Ragdoll).
Elkington is a novice to the industry, having only a few episodes of The Innocents and one of The Essex Serpent to her name. Turner and Hyland were very supportive of her story even though it was her first series directing. Turner stated in a statement: I don’t think the world of sports has been explored on film quite as much as it might be with Hania’s writings and characters. I’m thrilled to be playing Glenn and look forward to collaborating with Ella, Hania, World Productions, Prime Video, and the rest of the cast to bring this meaningful narrative to life. Hyland further elaborated in his own comment, “The significance and originality of “Fifteen-Love” hit me from the first page. In her writing, Hania explores the ambiguities that arise when power and relationships are involved.
Beautiful and convoluted, Justine is a fascinating creation. Being cast as her and a member of this fearless and innovative group makes me feel really fortunate.” Anna Chancellor (The Crown), Jessica Darrow (Encanto), Tom Varey (Ridley Road), Lorenzo Richelmy (Marco Polo), Manon Azem (Your Honour), Elizabeth Berrington (The Nevers), Amar Chadha-Patel (Willow), and Steffan Rhodri (House of Dragons) will join Turner and Hyland in the series. While his most notable role to date may be in the historical drama series Leonardo, Turner has established himself as an actor with a strong body of work that includes The Hobbit franchise.
Hyland, on the other hand, is just starting off, but she’ll soon be making her cinematic debut in Silent Roar. In her own statement, Elkington stated why she wanted to do the series, noting the increasing visibility of women in sports as one of her inspirations. The following are some of the things she remarked on: Women’s activism in sports has reached new heights during the past two years. Pressures and realities of being at the top of your game on the world stage are finally breaking through to us, and the price our young prodigies can pay for the goals they work so hard to achieve is once again in the spotlight.
This is true for everyone from Simone Biles to Naomi Osaka to Emma Raducanu to Pam Shriver. The experience of writing this play and the people I’ve met while researching it has been eye-opening. I’m hoping that ‘Fifteen-Love’ will have the same impact and will be accepted as an important piece of this developing drama. Production on Fifteen-Love has begun, and the show will premiere on Prime Video in the UK and Ireland in 2019.