Member Article

Pitman Bring Authenticity To New Churchill Film Training Actress Lily James Who Play's His PA

Pitman Training Head Office based in Wetherby, Yorkshire is excited to announce that the award winning actress Lily James who stars as Winston Churchill’s PA in the film the Darkest Hour, now in cinemas, was trained for her role, through a Pitman touch-typing course.

In an interview with Steve Wright on BBC Radio 2 last week, James revealed that she had been formally trained to help with authenticity. She said: “I really learnt to type, so while Gary was giving his Churchill speech I would really be typing it, so I felt that real urgency and need to get it right, which is exactly what Elizabeth would have felt……”

A war drama starring Gary Oldman as Churchill, the story follows his early days as Prime Minister, as Hitler closes in on Britain during World War II and whist it is a political drama there is a strong underlying story exploring Churchill’s relationships, especially with his new secretary Elizabeth Layton, played by Lily James.

After almost quitting on her first day on the job Churchill’s secretary goes on to play a key role in his career, through dictation recording his innermost thoughts and interpreting his emotions during a highly emotional point in history.

James added: “I did 6 weeks of typing…. I had this great teacher who would come round and she thought me to type, I really enjoyed it. I think with acting you never know if you’ve got it right but with typing you type a page without any mistakes, then you’ve got it right!”

James who, before her training with Pitman “could type but not touch type, but not without looking, not without speed, and not with the right fingers!” was a delight to work with according to Pitman trainer Liz.

Pitman Training MD, Claire Lister; “It’s fantastic that the production company committed to training Lily with Pitman and as a British heritage brand with over 180 years’ experience in this industry we think they made the perfect choice!”

This is not the first time Pitman Training has supported famous actors to assume their role. James Bond’s Q, Actor Ben Wishaw also had top secret typing lessons with Pitman.

Pitman Training has been synonymous with office based training since Sir Isaac Pitman in-vented shorthand in 1837, and the company now helps thousands of students each year progress their careers through tailor-made study programmes and Diplomas with one to one support at over 100 local centres, as well as via online courses, and short seminars to help top up skills.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Becky Hayles .