The Thursday Murder Club director Chris Columbus says he loves working with UK actors because they have a different “level of professionalism” compared with US talent.

First noticing the difference when he directed 2001’s Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, Columbus said: “I’m not putting down American actors but the fact that back then, it was a little more unique for actors to be doing television, theatre and film. 

“And all the British actors on [Harry] Potter were doing that. They were at a level of professionalism I had never seen before,” he added.

Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie star in The Thursday Murder Club as four retirees who begin solving murders in their local town. “They came to set so excited and happy to be there,” Columbus explained of the cast. “No one is cynical or jaded. You’re not knocking on a trailer door saying, ‘Please come to set.’ There’s no movie star attitude.”

Columbus also reflected on working with Steven Spielberg, whose production company Amblin Entertainment produced The Thursday Murder Club. The duo previously produced The Help and wrote the screenplay for The Goonies together. 

“But this was the first time I was directing a film with him as the producer, so it was intimidating,” Columbus admitted. “Then he reacted like the biggest supporter and fan of the film [when he came to set], he took his iPhone out and started filming behind-the-scenes footage, so I thought this is pretty exciting.”

The Thursday Murder Club shot in the UK at Shepperton Studios and on location in Beaconsfield in the summer of 2024. “I was prepared to shoot Cooper’s Chase [retirement community] and all the exteriors with dreary, English weather if need be,” said Columbus, who was pleasantly surprised by the UK’s unexpected sunny weather.

“It gave me and the cinematographer a reason to really show off the beauty of the English countryside.”

The film is on release in UK cinemas and launches on Netflix on August 28. “A big part of it was not designing the film for a streaming service or television,” Columbus revealed. “We designed this, even though it’s only playing for a week in theatres, as a cinematic experience.”

Why Helen Mirren will never direct again 

Brosnan told Screen it was “so rewarding” to hear The Thursday Murder Club was getting a theatrical release after the film was originally intended for streaming only.

“[Theatrical releases have] diminished over the years,” the actor said. “You do the work for the cinema and then it goes on the TV.”

Elsewhere, Mirren spoke of her experience directing the 2001 TV film On The Edge starring Andie MacDowell and why she has no interest in directing again.

“I loved every minute and came to the end of it and thought ‘I’m not a director, I’m an actor’,” Mirren revealed. “I either had to give up acting at that point, because it’s very time-consuming directing, and I thought, ‘No, I’ve absolutely loved it – I thought I was quite good at it – but I’m an actor, that’s what I am.’”

Watch the full interview with Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie below. 

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