Film
Leila was only 9 years of age when she had first role in feature film
called TEARS IN THE RAIN
which starred Sharon
stone. Leila was so thrilled to be in this
Hollywood
movie which was filming in the world renowned Pinewood Studios. They
even gave her a private tour which included the famous James Bond set!
It was so much fun and that day cemented in Leila’s mind that Acting was
going to be a part of her life for many years to come.
Throughout her carrier Leila has continued to act in several films
and has a talent for both serious and comic parts.
Most recently Leila produced the short documentary film
‘ASYLUM'; which received an
Honorable Mention at the Los
Angeles international film festival, was shown at the LA Femme film
festival and awarded The Gift of the Academy by B.A.F.T.A. ASYLUM
follows the story of child refugees from
Afghanistan,
Iraq
and Iran
who are entering the
UK
and the charity Youth Support who work with them. Asylum explores the
incredible story of why these children have to become refugees, their
perilous journey to safety and what happens to them when they finally
reach ‘the promised land’. Leila Birch is very proud that the educative
message of ASYLUM is the first that she has voiced to the world as a
producer. Leila is already working on bring her next film into
existence.
Gods of Circumstance
Leila was asked to voice a radio presenter by her director/writer friend
Justin Golding for his film. Leila loves getting in ‘the booth’ and
working with her talented friends, so this project was a doubly
attractive and doubly fun.
WMD
Follows a reneged group of American soldiers who kidnap the President of
the United States while he is visiting
their IRAQ
base at Thanks Giving. Leila plays the tenacious Melody Stone who is
their reporting live as the anchor girl for her news channel. On a
demand from the kidnappers Melody Stone is then brought into the room
where the kidnappers and the president are held up to cover the story.
Melody is forced to televise the interviews and is witness to some
extreamly dramatic and terrifying situations. “This was a really fun
film to work on, there were a lot of fights so everyone at one point had
to where some gruesome make up which I loved. We filmed everything in
one room, so the filming was very intense and fast moving. The cast and
crew were a family after day 3”.
More Than Dreams
was Leila’s first film out of Drama school. The film is a right of
passage tale about Sean, a Londoner in his early 20’s. Leila played
Claudia, a sassy, confused young lady and Sean’s Girlfriend. Claudia is
the catalyst to Sean leaving the
UK
and starting his adventures in Europe.
Leila was so happy to be able to work on this gritty role which
encompassed filming in London, Switzerland and France. The
scenes were very emotional and time schedule challenging so Leila was
very happy at the screening in
London
when she saw how well the project turned out.
In Generations Leila plays a
girl growing up in the seventies and facing the trials of being a single
parent. She also interviewed director Michael Apted for the production
which included material on the (seven) 'UP Series'.
When Leila was called by one of her old teachers at the
Italia
Conti School
who wanted to break into directing, she was happy to help especially as
she found herself working again with Paul Moriarty who played George
Palmer in EastEnders. The short film
Seconds Out was quite
surreal and Leila was playing each and every female character -
this bizarre twist was another thing which attracted her to this
project.
She has been likened to a young Elizabeth Taylor -
is this how Cleopatra would have looked?
