Steve Coogan and the makers The lost king They are being sued over the portrayal of a university official in the film Richard III.
Richard Taylor, former deputy registrar of the University of Leicester, has sued the actor-writer and his BBC Studios-owned production company Baby Cow Productions and Pathe Productions, claiming the performance presents him as “dismissive, condescending and misogynistic”.
Lee Ingleby played Taylor in the film, which was about the real discovery of Richard III’s remains under a council car park in Leicester in 2012.
The Stephen Frears-directed film focuses on the role played by historian Philippa Langley (played by Sally Hawkins) in the discovery, and will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022.
Coogan played Langley’s husband, and produced and co-wrote the film with Jeff Pope, who also co-wrote Coogan’s multi-Oscar-nominated 2013 film. Philomena. Cogan did not attend the Supreme Court hearing.
Taylor’s lawyer claimed the performance made him look “weasel-like” and “disingenuous” as he began legal proceedings in London yesterday.
In a widely circulated written memoir yesterday, William Bennett KC said: “The relevant context is the ‘good versus bad’ narrative that runs through the film. Ms Langley is portrayed as the plucky, underdog heroine struggling against the opposition and the pretender as the villain.” Arrogant.
“Not only does he take steps to make sure people don’t know about her role, but he takes the credit, which was rightfully hers, for himself and the university.”
“It is a feature film, not a documentary,” Andrew Caldecott KC, who represents Kogan and the companies, said in a written statement. “It will be clear to the average reasonable viewer that the film is not a documentary, but rather a dramatization of events.”
“The concept of fictional films based on real events is not new.”
He added that the film stated that it was “based on a true story”, was not a “literal depiction of specific words” and would be “understood as expressing Ms Langley’s perception”.
The lawyer also denied that Taylor was sexist or misogynistic, saying the filmmakers showed his concerns about Langley’s status as an amateur historian and her lack of experience, “not her gender.”
“While the film is highly critical of Mr. Taylor and the university for marginalizing Ms. Langley during the dig and after the discovery of the body and not giving her adequate credit, its clear motive is to exploit the discovery to advance the university’s commercial interests,” added Caldecott, who also denied the film’s portrayal of Taylor as mocking people with disabilities.
According to the BBC, the judge will issue a ruling on the preliminary issues in the lawsuit at a later date.
“Pathe has a long, respected and successful history in financing and distributing dramatic motion pictures based on real people, events and stories (including… the queen, The iron lady, Philomena, Selma, Pride, Judy And The great escapee) We stand by our decision on financing The lost kingTo give Philippa Langley a voice and bring her story to the screen.
“We will respect the judge’s decision and are confident that the film does not have the meaning that Richard Taylor claims. It was never Pathé’s intention to defame anyone and we believe we will be successful in defending the film and Pathé’s position.”
BBC Studios and Baby Cow declined to comment during the legal proceedings. We’ve reached out to Coogan’s representatives for comment. Taylor could not be reached by press time. Her current employer, Loughborough University, declined to comment.