Welsh actor Callum Scott Howells, best known from Channel 4’s It’s a Sin, is to star in an upcoming biopic about legendary 1980s band, Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
The film, titled Relax, will tell the story of the band and the creation of their 1983 single of the same name, which was banned by the BBC due to its lyrics and video being deemed overtly sexual by the broadcaster.
The news of the biopic comes after the group, formed in Liverpool in 1980, reunited for a short performance at a 2023 Eurovision Song Contest party in their home city. They played to a crowd of 25,000 people in what was their first performance in almost 40 years.
Scott Howells will portray Frankie frontman Holly Johnson. The film will be based on Johnson’s memoir A Bone In My Flute from 1994, which documented his humble Liverpudlian upbringing, coming to terms with his own sexuality, his rise to superstardom and his AIDS diagnosis.
English filmmaker and screenwriter Bernard Rose will direct and has said that the band went "from unemployed Liverpudlians to kings of pop on the back of their epic banned record Relax".
"Their epic rise, bringing the then deeply underground S+M and LGBTQ club scene screaming into the limelight, is the energetic and moving story of underdogs that win one for the ages," he said.
"I was very much a part of the hoopla, having directed the original 'banned’ Relax video and I want to bring that innocent and daring world of 1984 back to life for a new audience."
The banning of the single only increased its popularity – it went on to become the sixth-highest selling song of all time in the UK.
Scott Howells shot to stardom on It’s a Sin, Channel 4’s critically-acclaimed 2021 drama mini-series, that documents the lives of a group of gay men and their friends during the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 80s. As well as casting newcomers, the cast included big-hitters Neil Patrick Harris and Stephen Fry.
The series was a huge hit, and is now Channel 4’s most-streamed show of all time.
Scott Howells played Colin "Gladys Pugh" Morris-Jones, a sweet and shy character who arrives from South Wales into the hedonistic world of London’s gay scene. He was still in drama school when he auditioned for the role. He was nominated for a TV BAFTA in 2022 for Best Supporting Actor.
Originally composed of Johnson, Paul Rutherford, Mark O’Toole, Brian Nash and Peter Gill, Frankie Goes to Hollywood split in 1987 after success with two albums - Welcome To The Pleasuredome in 1984 and Liverpool in 1986.
Source: Press Association
