Emily Watson Cast in British Drama From Dominic Cooke ‘John Daniel’

Watson photographed in 2025. Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for IMDb

Emily Watson will lead Dominic Cooke’s upcoming British drama John Daniel.

The two-time Academy and BAFTA Award nominee, best known for roles in Breaking the Waves, Hamnet and Chernobyl, will play Alyce Cunningham in the film.

John Daniel is based on the extraordinary true story of an unlikely friendship between a fiercely independent Englishwoman and a baby gorilla in the aftermath of the First World War. Alexi Kaye Campbell (Woman in Gold), inspired by original home movie footage and photographs recorded by locals in Uley, Gloucestershire from 1918 to 1922, is writing the screenplay.

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“In 1918, the Cotswolds village of Uley is still raw from the losses of WWI, and Alyce Cunningham has built a solitary life behind a wall of wit and stoicism. That changes when her reckless nephew impulsively rescues a baby gorilla from the window of a London department store and, ignoring her protests, leaves her no option but to take him in,” reads a plot synopsis. “Mischievous and endlessly curious, John Daniel, as she reluctantly names him, slowly wins her over, and as he becomes part of village life, from the school classroom to the village pub, he brings joy back to the grieving community. When fear and suspicion threaten to drive him out, Alyce must decide how far she will go to protect the animal who has opened her heart.”

John Daniel is a Genesius Pictures production, in association with Edward Film Company, produced by BAFTA Award nominee Debbie Gray (Good Luck to You Leo Grande, Mrs Lowry & Son). The film is currently in pre-production, with principal photography scheduled to begin in the U.K. in mid-2027.

The film will combine motion capture with cutting-edge VFX to deliver a photorealistic performance, with visual effects by Axio World, led by Loris Mantello (Avengers: Infinity War, Prehistoric Planet, The Lion King) and Maoris Creantor (The Lion King, Fast & Furious 9, The Matrix Resurrections).