Colin Firth, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi and Helena Bonham Carter head the star-studded cast of a movie being filmed largely at Bradford’s Odsal Stadium.

The King’s Speech is described as the poignant but uplifting true story of the unorthodox relationship between King George VI, plagued by a nervous stammer, and the irreverent Australian speech therapist who cures him.

As the second son of George V, Prince Albert – “Bertie” – wasn’t expected to ascend to the throne. But when his brother Edward chose to abdicate to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, Bertie reluctantly became King George VI in 1936.

Thrust into the global spotlight, he engaged Lionel Logue to help him find a voice to lead the nation.

The film follows the remarkable friendship between the king – the Queen’s father – and the maverick speech therapist. Made by See-Saw Films and Bedlam Productions, the movie is being shot for seven weeks around the country, and the main regional location is Odsal Stadium, home of the Bradford Bulls.

Regional film agency Screen York-shire has been helping to find locations and crew.

Potential extras, aged 18 and over, are invited to a casting session at the stadium this weekend between 9am and 6pm. The extras chosen must be available for filming on Wednesday and Thursday, December 16 and 17. They must also be available for costume fitting between December 8 and 11.

Colin Firth, star of such films as Mamma Mia and Bridget Jones, stars as Prince Albert. The actor last filmed in the district in 2007, playing writer Blake Morrison in the movie And When Did You Last See Your Father? shot in Skipton.

Also in The King’s Speech is Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush, who starred in Pirates of the Caribbean and Shine, as Logue. The cast also includes Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother; Derek Jacobi as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Cosmo Lang; Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill; Guy Pearce as the abdicating King Edward VIII and Michael Gambon as King George V.

The director is Tom Hooper, whose previous film The Damned United, about Brian Clough’s ill-fated 44 days at the helm of Leeds United, was also filmed in the region.

e-mail: emma.clayton@telegraphandargus.co.uk