Steve Coogan: 'Philomena story moved me'

Steve Coogan was "moved" to turn the story of Philomena Lee into a film after reading an article about her in The Guardian newspaper, the actor has revealed.

Philomena, which stars Judy Dench and is showing at the 2013 London Film Festival, is the real life story of a young Irish woman forced to give up her child by nuns and her struggle to find him, decades later.

Coogan stars as journalist Martin Sixsmith - who helped Philomena with her search - and also wrote the screenplay.

He told BBC arts editor Will Gompertz that he saw the differences between the two characters as a way to tell a serious story with some comedy to "sugar the pill".

Film clips courtesy of Pathe