Episode 59: Steven Knight, Screenwriter of ‘Allied’

A Canadian spy, a French resistance fighter, and a love story set in the Sahara desert? Academy-Award nominated screenwriter Steven Knight has spent thirty-odd years bringing the new blockbuster ‘Allied’ starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard to the big screen. In those thirty years Knight has been busy writing critically acclaimed films like ‘Dirty pretty Things’ for which he was Oscar nominated, Eastern Promises, Pawn Sacrifice, and the upcoming sequel to ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ – just to name a few. Knight has also been busy with the hugely popular BBC/ Netflix TV series Peaky Blinders and the upcoming FX mini-series Taboo starring Tom Hardy. This week host Christina Jeurling Birro is joined by Steven Knight to discuss the decades long journey to making ‘Allied’ with director Robert Zemeckis (“Forrest Gump,” “Flight”), including the original inspiration for the plot. The World War II drama is inspired by the classic films like ‘Casablanca’ and tells the story of an intelligence officer and resistance fighter, who fall in love during a mission to kill a German official in 1942. They fall in love, have a child and settle down to a fairly normal life – until they are mortally set against each other when their identities are revealed. Knight also shares his journey as a screenwriter, how Brad Pitt inspired him to bring ‘Allied’ to the big screen, Peaky Blinders, his upcoming projects – and much more!

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