Stars miss Hitchcock premiere

James D'Arcy found himself alone on the red carpet as his leading ladies did a vanishing act for the premiere of new film Hitchcock.

Sir Anthony Hopkins stars in the biopic as the acclaimed filmmaker behind The Lady Vanishes, North By Northwest, Vertigo and The Birds, with Dame Helen Mirren as his devoted wife and editor, Alma Reville. Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel play Psycho stars Janet Leigh and Vera Miles.

But only British actor James, who plays Psycho star Anthony Perkins, and director Sacha Gervasi were in attendance at a screening of the film at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles.

James confessed of playing Perkins: "It's less of a challenge than actually playing Norman Bates, that would be really frightening. At least people don't know much about Tony Perkins, so I felt like I had a bit more lee-way to be honest."

Sacha revealed he felt "compelled" to explore the complexities of marriage in the film.

"I didn't know the extent to which Alma Reville was critical to his entire process as a filmmaker, so I was intrigued by that," he explained. "I felt compelled to tell a story about a marriage - it's really a love story about a marriage, and how hard it is. It's bloody difficult."

The movie is set in 1959, when Hitchcock took risks and invested his own money to make Psycho.

"He had never been more successful. North By Northwest was a massive hit, and I think he felt like he was being compelled and asked to do the same thing over and over," Sacha explained.

"He wanted to make something down and dirty and remind everyone that it was still there, that he still had it."