Geri Halliwell Horner has stated that she is excited to return to’real acting’ with her role in the forthcoming Sony movie Gran Turismo.
In 1997, the 50-year-old made her big screen debut as a version of herself in Spice World: The Movie, with Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Melanie C, and Mel B.
Geri departed the girl band when they reached the pinnacle of music megastardom, selling over 100 million albums worldwide and topping the charts with classics like Wannabe, Spice Up Your Life, and Viva Forever.
The next year, she launched a remarkable career that culminated in four number one songs, including Lift Me Up and her rendition of It’s Raining Men.
In future years, she dabbled in further acting, appearing as herself on an episode of Absolutely Fabulous and as a guest star on Sex and the City.
Geri also appeared in a flashback as Jason Statham’s character’s mother in 2009’s Crank: High Voltage.
She is now acting in Gran Turismo opposite David Harbour and Orlando Bloom as Lesley, the mother of real-life GT Academy pupil-turned-professional-racing driver Jann Mardenborough (played by Archie Madekwe).
‘The storyline from the beginning of Gran Turismo was excellent, it’s a really beautiful tale – it’s motivating, it’s real,’ Geri told Metro.co.uk at the film’s photo call during the Cannes Film Festival. It’s action, but it’s raw.
‘And there’s a huge amount of heart.’
The actress is also eager to return to her acting origins and ‘go back to actual acting’ in a role unrelated to herself, she revealed.
‘I’ve always studied acting and theatre – I studied for a couple of years before I was in the band.’
Geri is also a fan of the film’s ‘family dynamic, which I think everyone will relate to’.
Teasing a bit about her character as Lesley Mardenborough, she explains that she ‘worries for her son like every mother would’ when he is whisked away for intense instruction to become a professional racing driver after showing potential digitally through the Gran Turismo PlayStation computer games.
Djimon Hounsou, a two-time Oscar contender, plays her spouse and Jann’s father in the film.
Her co-star Orlando shared his reaction to the film’s pitch from director Neill Blomkamp.
‘I really just responded to Neill when he approached me about the idea of this script and the idea of a true story about Jann Mardenborough, a kid from Wales who dreamed big enough and got to drive cars, and still is today, and I was like, “Oh that’s cool, it’s a movie for dreamers.”’
Geri is also married to former race driver Christian Horner, 49, who is now team principal for the Red Bull F1 team, so we can’t help but think some of his enthusiasm for the sport has rubbed off on Geri.
They have a six-year-old son, Montague, while Geri has a 17-year-old daughter, Bluebell, with screenwriter Sacha Gervasi.
Christian has a nine-year-old daughter with his ex-partner Beverley Allen.
Gran Turismo is scheduled to release in UK cinemas on August 11.
Source My Celebrity Life.