The workaholic and the shopaholic

MANILA, Philippines - Hugh Dancy (Black Hawk Down, King Arthur, Ella Enchanted) stars opposite Isla Fisher in Touchstone Pictures’ new romantic comedy Confessions of a Shopaholic, based on the bestselling novel by Sophia Kinsella, and directed by P.J. Hogan (My Best Friend’s Wedding).

Dancy plays Luke Brandon, the ambitious, intensely driven and workaholic young editor of financial magazine, Successful Saving where shopaholic Rebecca Bloomwood (Fisher) lands a job as, ironically, a financial columnist. Extravagant and frivolous, she is a compulsive shopper and ostensibly the two have nothing in common. But sparks fly and these charismatic characters are inextricably — and drawn to each other.

“Hugh Dancy is someone we’ve worked with in the past,” says producer Jerry Bruckheimer. “He played Schmid, the medic, in Black Hawk Down, and then Galahad in King Arthur. I think he’s a wonderful young actor, extremely handsome, very charming, and I think somebody who is going to be a major movie star.”

Adds P.J. Hogan, “Hugh is ice to Isla’s fire. They’re both what the other needs, and they were a perfect match. Hugh had to be just what he was in the books, a Brit. Hugh has that edge that the Luke Brandon in the books has. Luke grounds Becky and she breathes life into him. He was totally committed to his career and was just letting life pass him by.”

“On the surface, Luke appears to be the polar opposite of everything Becky is attracted to,” says Dancy. “He’s utterly disinterested in clothes and shopping, and in love with the world of finance, which she clearly has a bit of a problem with. But like all good matches, these initial differences end up being the very thing that draws the two characters together.”

Dancy’s recent credits include The Jane Austen Book Club, starring Maria Bello and Emily Blunt; Evening with Claire Danes and Toni Collette; and the independent film drama Adam, which recently premiered at Sundance.

Now showing in theaters nationwide, Confessions of a Shopaholic is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.