Latest / Half the Picture / #28 - CLÉMENCE POÉSY

Transcript

#28 - CLÉMENCE POÉSY · Half the Picture

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There's a dedicated person who gets your wand after every take.
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Really?
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Yes.
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It's not a good point.
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The wand handler.
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Yeah.
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Imagine there's probably quite a few of them on set, right?
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Because I mean, everyone.
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No, everyone is a wand.
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Everyone is a wand.
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So, like, how many handlers are on set for the wand?
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A few, yeah.
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So, how long?
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Welcome to Half the Picture.
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How are you doing today?
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I'm all right.
0:28
How are you?
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It's such a pleasure to have you on,
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because I've been a fan of your work since I was a kid, basically.
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And I'm older than I look.
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I promise.
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But yes, it's I was little.
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And I think most of us could probably say the same thing.
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You know, we've all kind of grown up watching your work on, you know,
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screens sort of big and small.
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Obviously, things like Harry Potter and Imbruj in 127 hours.
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Gossip Wheel, of course.
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And Tenor and the Essex Serpent.
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So much great stuff you've done.
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And what's been interesting, sort of looking back across your career
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in the run-ups of this chat,
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like you've worked across so many different disciplines,
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like obviously film and television,
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but also obviously you've done modeling and music.
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And then you worked at Mars Cane.
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Music was like, I don't think anyone could say I've done music.
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I love their music.
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Whispered on like a track.
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But to Mars Cane, I mean, it's cool.
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And directing as well, you know, you've been behind the camera.
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You've worked by the camera yourself.
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But go right back to the very beginning, if I may.
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I mean, I want to say how this all started for you.
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And currently if I'm wrong, but like you, you were 16
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and you realized you wanted to act.
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And then you basically phoned up an agency out of the blue
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and just, you know, and that was how it started.
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You just put a sort of pit at the phone and made that call
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and then that was kind of got the ball rolling, is that right?
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Or am I completely off there?
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No, it's true.
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But I do come from my dad does theatre.
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So I grew up watching him putting on plays and writing
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and directing and working.
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So it was aware of it, of acting as a craft.
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And not just a, it wasn't something that just felt abstract.
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But I did, my sister had a friend who was already acting.
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And it was a time where you'd be given the beginning of a job.
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You'd be given a little list of like everyone's contact.
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And we managed to get that little booklet that her friend had.
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And there were agencies on there.
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This is pre-internet.
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I called the first agency that was on there and they didn't,
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they never answered.
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And then I called the second one and she answered and we,
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yeah, started working.
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And then I, and then I told my parents that I was going to go
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and meet with her.
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But, yeah.
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So they had no idea.
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Did they know you wanted to act?
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No, I never really told anyone.
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It felt a bit silly.
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It felt like everyone was saying they wanted to act.
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And I just felt a bit silly saying admitting it.
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So I kind of quietly did it without talking about it too much.
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And I met that agent and she was amazing.
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And just started auditioning on like days
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where I wasn't going to school.
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So the weekends?
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Or would you have bunk off school and go audition?
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Yeah, well, in France you get Wednesdays off.
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So I'd go on Wednesdays.
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You don't get west.
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That sounds amazing.
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Yeah, I'd go after school.
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I wasn't high school already.
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But yeah, more on weekends.
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And what sort of began that desire to act for you?
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I mean, was there a specific film or actress or actor or play
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or for a show that sort of you saw that made you go,
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ah, this is for me?
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I don't think there's any things specific.
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We were brought up my sister and I in a sort of,
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so my mum is a, she's retired now,
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but she's a literature teacher and my dad does theatre.
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So we were brought up in a sort of, in a love of storytelling,
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I think, and stories, and they took us to the cinema a lot
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and they took us to the theatre a lot.
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So I guess it was around.
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But I think really the phone call to the agent
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was a way to avoid the, to find a different world
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than just high school, which I was a bit struggling with.
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It was a way to have a thing that was my own, somehow,
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more than anything.
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And I guess that's what I knew.
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That was the world I kind of knew and I knew I liked watching films.
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So I thought it might be interesting to see you how they were made.
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But yeah.
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But then so, as you say, your dad, you know, worked in theatre then.
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I mean, do you think his sort of presence,
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did that inform kind of how you approached acting in a broad sense?
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I mean, like, I guess across your career or all back at the start,
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do you think that sort of was he kind of on hand to sort of talk to you about acting
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and sort of walk you through it at all?
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Not really.
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But it meant I had someone to talk through things if I wanted to.
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He was always very good at just letting us do what we wanted to do.
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And I guess he does more theatre and I started more doing films.
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So it was slightly different.
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But it meant that there was someone to share
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things or questions or just joys with who could understand them.
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Yeah, but he wasn't at all like a sort of,
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he never kind of came in saying he had lots of advice
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and he's a very much smarter than that.
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Much more tactful than that.
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And speaking of films, I mean, the films you've worked on,
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I mean, I think the first thing I would have seen you in
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would have been Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire,
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of course, where you played Fuller Delicor.
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And I know you'd worked internationally a bit for them.
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You'd worked for BBC.
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I think from there, that was a trajectory, right?
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Yeah, I'd just finished shooting gunpowder trees and implants
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directed by Gillies McKinnon and it was about Mary Stewart.
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I'd finished filming it and I met Mike Newell.
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Yeah, I'm not even sure it was out yet.
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He was sort of auditioning people after I'd finished filming it.
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Yeah.
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And what are your memories of working on Potter?
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Because I mean, even by that point,
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I mean, it was only four films in it and it was already
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it's huge phenomenon.
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I mean, obviously from the books, but in the movies,
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there were such huge events, the films,
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and the making of them.
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And it was a huge production.
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Right.
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What are your memories of working on that film specifically
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and working with that amazing cast and crew?
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It just didn't really feel like work.
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It felt like there's a very slow pace to filming that kind of movie
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because you can shoot a scene for like three weeks or a month
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and which never happens like what otherwise
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you're just kind of constantly rushing.
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And also I think because of the times the younger cast
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had to have, we could only film like a certain amount of time
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in the day.
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And so it just felt like a sort of very nice holiday on a film set.
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Yeah, you just get to kind of meet all these people,
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look at all these amazing, like discover all these amazing sets.
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I think we were all kind of completely amazed every time
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we'd start on a new set because the work that was done.
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And I'm glad they've opened the studios.
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I'm glad this is like something that people can experience
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because it's magical, like the craft that goes into that.
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But it was also made by an amazing, like the producers,
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everyone involved really tried to make it as human as possible.
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So it never felt like this big, cold, huge production.
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It just felt quite like, it's going to sound a bit cheesy,
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but like a family, like they'd been working together for so long
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and they were taken care of, I think, quite brilliantly.
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So I just felt quite lucky to get to experience it.
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But in terms of work, the amount of time you were on the set in a day
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was so, like, there was quite a very small,
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it was a very small amount of time.
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So it just felt quite chilled.
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And everyone had to find something to,
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because you do wait around a lot.
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So everyone was finding different things, people were knitting,
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people were learning the piano.
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I watched all the father-teds.
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But I was wearing black books.
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I read a lot.
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It was quite, it was just really nice.
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But it did feel a little bit like a holiday somehow.
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Well, that sounds like the best kind of description of,
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I guess, working on a film set that you can ask for.
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It doesn't feel like work by the sounds, but it felt like sort of play.
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No, that definitely didn't feel like work.
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And saying everyone was, I mean, I think for a lot of people,
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it was a lot of hard work.
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I just had a very small part.
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So that's why I got lucky in that way.
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I mean, for a lot of people, it was a lot of work, just so.
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Just for the record.
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For the crew, it's an amazing amount of work.
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So I just felt like I've gotten this nice invitation.
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Well, what you said there about how it felt like a family,
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with those films, because there were eight of them,
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for so many years they were making them.
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I mean, Daniel Rackliffe talks about him and his stunt double,
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would be, I think it would be his stunt double.
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His standing would be like, you know, they were close as brothers
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by the end of it.
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And then you coming into it, like, and the others,
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I mean, like Rob Patson coming in as well.
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It was his first sort of major role.
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Did you find you sort of, you were able to sort of join that family quite easily?
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Or was it a little bit at all?
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It was never going to be.
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I'm never going to be.
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There were obviously very close and they've grown up together.
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So it was never going to be exactly the same,
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but they were very welcoming, friendly.
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It was a very different experience for them,
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and then it is for someone who comes in to do one,
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I mean, I did number four, and then I came back to do
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seven and eight.
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Is it seven and eight?
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So it's just like a little, yeah, as well.
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I just felt quite privileged to be able to kind of witness it,
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but it's not the same as spending your entire childhood
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with these people on that set and kind of...
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Of course.
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And were you a fan of the books before you got the part?
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It was actually, yeah, yeah.
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My mum used to give it to our students to read
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before it became such a huge, before the films came out
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and before it became like...
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And I remember her saying, it's really good,
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and I was like, I've got witchcraft, I'm not sure.
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And she was like, I think you should really read it,
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and I remember reading it, and yeah, I fell in love with it,
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and waiting for them to come out and cry in the train
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when Adobe died and I ate all of that.
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Don't even talk about that.
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So yeah, and of course, yeah, I was...
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Yeah, I mean, same.
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And I mean, growing up on those books and listening to them
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being read to me, and like, you know, we would all read them.
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I was in quite a big family and we all read it.
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It was an event.
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Each one of those books came out on those films.
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And you say that, you know, you only sort of in it
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in the films and story here and there,
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but you did, you know, you still stuck out.
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There's something kind of iconic about Flur.
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And like I say, like, you had a lot of scenes of Rob Patterson.
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You know, you guys both be it, you know, him being said at degree.
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You guys both being in the try was a tournament.
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And I feel like that was like an eye catching role for him as well.
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I mean, would you say being a part of that family
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and making that movie, do you think it helped your next steps
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as an actor, like, where you went next?
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Oh, definitely.
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But then I didn't do something quite as massive as Twilight after that.
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So it didn't quite go the same way.
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But yeah, and I never, I never really thought it would.
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It was a bit weird because when I was offered Harry Potter,
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I'd just got into the French National Drama School,
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which is really hard to get in.
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And I'd failed miserably the first time I tried it.
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And I finally got in.
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I wasn't even sure what was the best thing to do
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because it just seemed like such a small part.
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And I had, I guess the films were being,
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but I had no idea that they'd end up putting us on the poster.
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You know, I mean, you just kind of,
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I was just very aware that it was a very small thing.
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So it was a bit of a surprise, actually,
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how much it kind of changed things.
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And yeah, definitely helped.
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It puts you somewhere more public somehow.
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It makes your name a little bit more known,
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especially in France,
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because I was the only French person in it and stuff.
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So it then changed a bit what I was getting to do in France.
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Yeah.
12:11
Is it true you had to learn to scuba dive when you were doing that movie,
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when there's the sort of second challenge of the film?
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We had to learn how to, yeah, be comfortable underwater.
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Well, no, I don't know if I learned to scuba dive.
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I know how to pretend.
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I know how to pretend I can breathe underwater.
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But I don't know what to do with the bottles.
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Someone was always dealing with the bottles.
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You never get very properly good at anything.
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You get good at pretending you're good at things.
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You get...
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You're good at the weird thing.
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You don't really learn things properly.
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You learn how to pretend that you know how to do things.
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But we spent a lot of time in a tank underwater.
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That one has big sort of life.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, they huge aren't they?
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Yeah, they built them, especially, you think, for a photo.
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There are some tanks in various studios in London,
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but they had something dedicated for that.
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The scene of the other movies you made,
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one of the ones that came not too long after that was in Bruges,
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which, by the way, I must say, is one of my favourite films of yours.
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I love in Bruges.
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It's an incredible film.
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And it's a film that still stands the test of time after all these years.
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I mean, it's nearly 20 years now since that came out,
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which is a bit scary.
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For me, more than for you.
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I remember it coming out there when I was...
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I was going to say, but I just want to ask,
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what was it like making that film?
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Working in Belgium with Mark McDonald and another incredible cast,
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Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason again.
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What are your memories of that film?
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I just remember thinking I'd never read anything like it.
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And I just think Martin's an amazing writer.
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I was just in awe of every single line in it.
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I just think that there's something quite perfect about it.
14:05
And making it was, once again, a lot of fun.
14:10
It was quite cold, but it was just brilliant getting to...
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I always feel like I'm going to just kind of repeat the same thing,
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but I just felt like I was very lucky to get invited into that world
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and just able to watch all these people do their thing.
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Because again, he comes from Martin with Madonna,
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who wrote and directed.
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He came from theatre first and then moved into doing film.
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And there is something like watching it back that film.
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There is something very sort of almost classically theatrical or literary
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in the way that, for me anyway, in the way that every single character in that film
14:46
no matter how seemingly sort of insignificant a role they have,
14:50
is actually very significant in the sort of proceedings and how they unfold.
14:54
Well nothing's left to...
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It's exactly what he's doing, I think Martin,
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when he's writing something.
15:02
Yeah, and I know it's beautiful.
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And I mean, I'm a huge fan of all of his movies,
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like I just know, Three Billboards, I think,
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is one of my favourite films ever.
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It was so sweet, because when we were filming, he was like,
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see, I can do romance.
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I can do romance.
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When we were filming RC.
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Because obviously it's all that.
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Killing in crime and gums and so on.
15:26
Seriously?
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Was that the kind of energy on set then?
15:30
That kind of vibes at the time.
15:31
It was lovely, it was a lovely set.
15:34
I think when people were making a movie they love
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and believing what they're doing,
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everyone's kind of happy to be there.
15:44
I wouldn't wait like it's such a sort of privilege.
15:48
And was it kind of...
15:49
You say about Potter?
15:50
That felt almost...
15:51
It didn't feel like work.
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That felt like a holiday.
15:53
And was in Bruce the same.
15:54
You say it was like another great set of,
15:56
sort of, everyone believing in it,
15:58
everyone wanting to do their best work.
15:59
Was it a sort of...
16:00
sort of set like that?
16:01
Or was it more like, okay, knuckle down?
16:03
We need to...
16:04
This is a...
16:05
There was...
16:06
There was maybe a little bit more...
16:08
There's scenes themselves and those sort of...
16:10
How delicate you had to be to kind of make everything work.
16:13
I had to be a bit more focused maybe.
16:17
But Martin doesn't...
16:19
I don't know if he still does that.
16:20
But we rehearsed a lot because he comes from the theatre.
16:23
We sort of rehearsed a lot.
16:24
And I think dialogue is so important to him and that.
16:27
I think there was a lot of time spent
16:31
making sure that everything was...
16:33
It was good though.
16:34
So actually by the time you get to filming,
16:36
it is quite free.
16:39
Because you know where...
16:40
Yeah, yeah.
16:41
You know where you stand.
16:42
Because Colin and Brendan have talked a lot about that over the years
16:45
since the film came out, which is that they had...
16:47
I think it was two weeks for her soul, you guys have?
16:49
Yeah, it was two weeks.
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I mean, I live in there for the two weeks.
16:52
But yeah, in a hotel in Bruges.
16:54
In Bruges.
16:55
And they were talking about it almost like it was a privilege.
16:58
It was a privilege to be able to sit...
16:59
It's so rare to have that time.
17:01
It's so...
17:02
Because you know, it's all about like...
17:03
It's all about trying to fit as much as you can in the budget
17:08
or in the time you're allowed to film.
17:11
And I think...
17:12
I think...
17:13
Probably, I'm not sure I never had that chat with him.
17:15
But I guess that's something Martin made like...
17:18
Insisted on is having that time.
17:20
It is quite rare that you get that luxury, really,
17:25
of being able to sit down and make sure everything is good.
17:28
And you actually do gain quite a lot of time on set, if you do that.
17:32
Because you know when...
17:33
Yeah, because you've gone through all the issues that might show up
17:36
because they show up on the day you're filming.
17:38
And you have to spend a bit of time solving them.
17:41
I feel...
17:42
I get the sense that some actors really love rehearsal
17:44
but some really sort of almost kind of...
17:47
They're a little bit adverse to it.
17:48
And they prefer to sort of...
17:49
The phrase that I remember Richard Linkler, the director,
17:51
was saying that like, you know, some actors might say to it
17:53
because he really believes in rehearsal.
17:54
Yeah.
17:55
And some actors might say to him,
17:56
Oh, you know, I don't want to leave it in the rehearsal space.
17:58
I want to leave it all out there on the playing field.
18:00
Yeah.
18:01
So it seems that some actors, they have different takes on rehearsal.
18:03
I mean, you saw one who really, you know, enjoys that.
18:06
Or, you know, that sort of peve in that time.
18:08
I like doing what the person I'm working with wants to do
18:12
because I believe that it's their process, not yours,
18:16
when you're entering their world.
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And so I kind of feel like if that's how they're going to get
18:23
what they want, then that's what I should kind of be doing with them.
18:28
And I quite like the idea that there's not one way to do things.
18:31
And that, for someone who comes from the theatre,
18:34
having that space and having that time,
18:36
is going to make, is going to make filming more, more comfortable
18:40
for someone who comes from, I don't know, documentary.
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They want to maybe keep something, something different.
18:46
And like, that is probably the thing I love the most about this job
18:50
is being able to kind of visit different universe in different ways
18:54
to tell stories and to create a world.
18:58
There's not one, there's not one way that works for everyone.
19:03
So I kind of, I'm not the most at ease person in rehearsals.
19:08
I always feel like I'm going to get fired, especially in theatre.
19:12
I'm not very good, and I remember that from drama school as well
19:16
when there's no camera rolling or no audience in the theatre.
19:20
I'm not very good at kind of, there's a shyness that stays,
19:25
that I can't quite shake until I know it's actually being recorded.
19:31
But it's more, it's more to do with my, yeah,
19:35
like some kind of shyness or, I don't know what it is.
19:39
So it's not the, I know I have had that conversation with actors
19:42
who are like, this is a great, such a waste base.
19:46
You could try things, I don't feel like that at all.
19:48
I'm just like, oh my god, everyone's going to know that I'm not a wife of this part.
19:52
And it's going to be too late.
19:54
So it's not my favourite thing, but I do love sitting down at a table
20:06
going through scenes, asking all the questions.
20:09
And I'm aware of how layered it makes things,
20:14
like how much more complex things are, I think, in an interesting way,
20:20
when you've had that time to kind of, to fill all the words
20:25
with the right kind of meaning for you.
20:31
And I feel like if you don't have any rehearsal times,
20:34
maybe there's spontaneity, but you're also kind of missing that extra layer.
20:39
So I sort of, if someone asked me to do a rehearsal,
20:44
I'm happy to go and do it even though I feel like,
20:49
they're going to realise that I'm a fraud.
20:53
But I don't have one way to do things.
20:56
I really, I really believe that the beauty of this job is to kind of follow someone
21:03
somewhere the way they're doing it.
21:05
You can put your feet where they're fit steps are kind of.
21:11
So yeah.
21:12
And zeroing in on like a specific aspect's been brewed.
21:14
When you are shooting some of those scenes of Colin,
21:16
which are so funny and they're so memorable,
21:18
like the scene in the restaurant with the Canadian,
21:20
where Colin, you know, there's the smoking section,
21:22
all that stuff.
21:23
And the way that your character is sort of bouncing off each other,
21:27
he says, you know, I should present children for money.
21:29
Yeah, yeah.
21:30
And you think he's taking the piss, but then like you say back,
21:32
I sell drugs to Belgian films.
21:34
And like they don't know what is true and what is not true.
21:38
Exactly, yeah.
21:39
Do you have specific memories of that scene, I guess,
21:41
work with Colin?
21:42
Because the chemistry between you on screen is just,
21:44
is just electric.
21:45
Well, he's wonderful.
21:46
He's just wonderful to watch it.
21:48
So and there was something so vulnerable about what he does and improve, I think.
21:55
And I found that incredibly moving because it's quite rare that actors are okay
22:02
with being that vulnerable somehow.
22:06
And he's totally fine with it.
22:09
And kind of, yeah, I think it made his character such a moving,
22:14
moving part of the story.
22:18
So you just kind of, you just kind of watch him do it.
22:23
But yeah, I guess there's playing on what everyone knows is true.
22:28
And I'm saying things that are so big that they can't actually be true,
22:32
but they are.
22:35
But that was all, that was all pretty much worked out in rehearsals,
22:39
the rhythm of that.
22:41
And it's like, yeah, we were both very clear on what we were,
22:45
where we were coming from.
22:47
I know what you mean about that vulnerability,
22:49
because I think that's one of the great things about his performance.
22:51
And just like that whole film also has that, you know,
22:53
even though it's about these hard men, you know,
22:56
typically portrayed like, you know, British gangster films,
22:58
the great thing about that film and it's that it unpicks that
23:01
and goes underneath it and Colin is doing that in his performance.
23:03
You know, there is a vulnerability, which is also makes his character
23:06
so sort of lovable, even though he's done this sort of important thing.
23:10
There's a real lovableness to him.
23:13
With that script then, those scenes, I mean, was there any improvisation
23:16
allowed on set?
23:17
Did you guys ever improvise?
23:18
Or was it all like?
23:19
I certainly didn't.
23:20
I wouldn't have done it.
23:22
I think it was, we were quite specific even about like punctuation,
23:26
kind of like being, when things are written so beautifully,
23:31
you have to kind of rise up to it and kind of, so it,
23:36
you know, was about making sure you understood the rhythm
23:41
of how things were written.
23:44
And just bringing that online on screen,
23:46
rather than going off into, like, another direction.
23:48
Yeah, I mean, I certainly don't, I don't know whether Brendan
23:51
and Colin improvised, but I certainly didn't.
23:55
You've got these lines.
23:58
You just go up to him as best you can, yeah.
24:00
And I mean, I guess this is a spoiler alert now for anyone who hasn't seen
24:03
improvised, but I mean, the ending of improvised, which is such a strong,
24:06
you know, like emotionally, is such a strong ending way.
24:09
You know, Colin's basically like, you know, half dead.
24:11
And your character is kind of like, you know, clinging to him as he's being led away.
24:14
I think people always talk about, you know, what happens after those,
24:17
you know, that screen cuts to black.
24:19
Like does he survive?
24:20
I mean, do you have an interpretation of that?
24:21
Like, did does Ray survive?
24:23
Or does he, is he in Bruce, the purgatory of Bruce forever?
24:27
I have an interpretation because there used to be a scene after that,
24:31
but I can't allow you to work.
24:34
Oh, wait, hold on, hold on.
24:36
I think I've heard about this.
24:37
Yeah.
24:38
I think there was no like a...
24:39
There was a scene, but I can't tell you where it was.
24:41
It didn't end.
24:42
There was a sort of epilogue.
24:44
Was there, was it in a hospital?
24:46
Was I...
24:48
What?
24:49
Telling you.
24:50
I think it's cut for a reason, but...
24:53
So I've got my own interpretation, which is sort of probably influenced by the epilogue that I read.
25:00
But yeah.
25:01
Okay.
25:02
I feel like he survives, personally.
25:04
I feel like there's, you know, he's done too much, he's gone for too much.
25:07
She has to, you know, to have the...
25:09
And also, you guys, you know, I mean, there's a nice relationship there.
25:12
You know, I can't present there.
25:14
Anyway, anyway, you know the answer is...
25:16
Well, it might not be the answer, because the film is what it is.
25:19
So it ends there.
25:20
True.
25:21
So.
25:22
True.
25:23
You, before, you mentioned something about when you were talking about rehearsal and about the sort of rehearsal process and acting,
25:29
and how you say, it's interesting, you say that, like, so when you're in that rehearsal space,
25:33
you don't feel completely comfortable until, like, the camera's rolling and, like, and we're doing it.
25:38
It's like, okay, now the play or the movie's on, we're going.
25:41
It's like, that's when you feel kind of, like, I guess, confident.
25:44
They're like, okay, this is...
25:45
Now, this is the ship's taking off.
25:47
Yeah.
25:48
It's when I feel like I've got the rights to go for it, maybe.
25:53
Yeah, I don't know what it is.
25:55
I know some people, maybe it's the fact of not having gone to drama school for very long.
26:00
It's like that experimental space that you have in your share for years,
26:04
and you can kind of try things and feel like you're not being...
26:08
Yeah, I feel like you've got the freedom to fail, basically.
26:11
I always feel like I have to be efficient on a rehearsal,
26:15
when I should probably not worry about it.
26:20
Maybe it's not having had that space when I was learning for a long enough.
26:28
I'm not sure.
26:30
But, yeah.
26:31
But it doesn't mean that I'm confident when the camera's rolling either.
26:36
You could have fooled me.
26:39
I mean, is that a kind of sort of...
26:41
I hear what you're saying.
26:42
Is it kind of sort of imposter syndrome a little bit?
26:45
Do you think?
26:46
Oh, definitely.
26:47
Yeah.
26:48
Am I...
26:49
Should I be here?
26:50
Because I understand that.
26:51
I think everyone can understand.
26:52
It's such a sort of universal feeling that, like, is this where I belong?
26:55
Yeah.
26:56
But I think it's good to keep that.
26:58
Because I think in the minute you lose that, you probably...
27:00
Yeah, I don't know if I'll ever feel like...
27:02
So happy with this scene.
27:04
I did it.
27:05
It was perfect.
27:07
You can't...
27:08
It's such a hard thing to...
27:12
You can't...
27:13
It's so fragile.
27:15
And I feel like the minute...
27:17
I'm like, okay, I feel like...
27:19
I know where I'm...
27:21
I've learned how to do this now.
27:24
I can...
27:25
The minute I think that, usually the next scene, like, shows me that I know that's really nothing.
27:32
So, yeah, so I've stopped kind of trying to find some kind of thing that's never going to be there.
27:40
I guess you're always searching.
27:43
Maybe some people don't.
27:44
I don't know.
27:45
I...
27:46
Yeah.
27:47
I'm not massively confident.
27:51
But I do think that helps.
27:53
That helps kind of be in movement.
27:56
And...
27:57
And not get complacent with what you do.
27:59
Yeah.
28:00
I hear that about...
28:01
Not just that.
28:02
I hear that about so many of the different sorts of arts and disciplines.
28:04
Like, I've heard painters talk about that.
28:05
Like, you know, if they...
28:07
I remember one guy saying, like, if he sits down and easel and starts painting,
28:10
and he thinks, I'm going to do a masterpiece today.
28:12
Like, he is going to...
28:13
Like, the artwork will kick his ass up and down the street.
28:16
And it will show him who the boss is.
28:18
You know what I mean?
28:19
It's not him.
28:20
It's what...
28:21
It's the art that he's doing.
28:22
It's what he's doing.
28:23
And I guess, like, what you...
28:24
I hear what you're saying in terms of, like, you know, the next scene will just come along.
28:27
I just feel like you've got a...
28:28
You've done one scene, okay?
28:29
And the next scene will come along.
28:30
You're going to...
28:31
Everything's going to crumble.
28:32
Yeah.
28:33
But...
28:34
It's weird, because sometimes I look at musicians and dancers,
28:37
and I wish we had something that day-to-day practice, and that sort of...
28:42
Riga, how do you say that?
28:46
Like, the fact that you have to, like, work and work at the technicality of something,
28:53
kind of, actors are quite lazy.
28:55
Like, there's something quite lazy about acting.
28:57
You don't have to, like, every day just kind of...
29:02
And sometimes I miss that, because I feel like that would be something to hang on to.
29:07
But you can't really...
29:08
That's a thing.
29:09
You can't really do it on your own.
29:11
You can't...
29:12
You need people to do it with.
29:17
So, whether that's got to do something...
29:20
Like, whether that's got to do with this imposter syndrome,
29:23
the fact that I feel like there's not enough, kind of, proper, proper work of the training,
29:28
or, like, something that you keep putting on, like, every day, you need to...
29:31
To stay in match fit.
29:32
Yeah.
29:33
Yeah, I don't know.
29:34
I guess the theatre is kind of the closest to that, because, like,
29:36
if you're doing a play in the West End or Broadway, like, you know, you're doing it every night,
29:40
so you keep match fit that way.
29:42
But I feel like acting...
29:43
Like, I remember something about Mike Lee, the British filmmaker, who's, you know, renowned for his work as actors,
29:48
he will... he will do a thing called Warm Up, where they'll get into character.
29:51
And all the actors will then, you know, get into character together and then, or apart,
29:56
and then once they're ready, that's when they go.
29:58
Yeah.
29:59
That's when they go with cameras.
30:00
And whereas I feel like with film acting, you have just kind of got to turn it on and off.
30:02
But that's the hardest thing.
30:03
It's like, like, like, maintaining...
30:07
Whatever level you need to be at.
30:09
That energy.
30:11
At the right.
30:13
Having... having your emotions available when it's all kind of a play is wonderful,
30:18
because you get to experience something from, like, beginning to the end.
30:21
And so you go through the same arc as your character was in the film,
30:24
you just kind of keep stopping and starting, and then...
30:28
be taking a little bit of something, then shooting something another day, and then like...
30:32
So you...
30:33
That is the technical thing you try to learn, is how to...
30:38
be able to access what you need when you need it.
30:41
Even if you're not like...
30:43
Because it depends on so many other elements, and it is a sort of...
30:47
It's something you do all together, to everyone who has to be ready at the same time.
30:51
So it's lovely to hear that idea of everyone warming up together is a great...
30:57
idea, I guess, because you can...
30:59
You get to kind of have that benefit from that joint energy.
31:03
It would film it, then TV.
31:05
It's all like a jigsaw puzzle anyway, because you're doing it mostly out of sequence.
31:08
Like you say, when you're doing something on stage, you have that arc of big impact...
31:11
Yeah.
31:12
...one, two, three, all the way through with your character.
31:14
And then if you're working on film and TV, you know, you've got to shoot the beginning.
31:18
Yeah.
31:19
You'll shoot the end first.
31:20
Like, that's the saddest schedule, sometimes.
31:22
Yeah, but that's something you get used to.
31:25
But it does feel like a real...
31:28
I did a TV show in France called Intreatment, like the French version of Intreatment,
31:33
which is all set in like a therapist's office, and it's therapy sessions.
31:38
And we shoot like 10 minutes takes, sometimes, of like a huge chunk of the session,
31:46
because it's all on a couch and you don't need to change up the cameras.
31:51
And that was...
31:53
It just felt like such an amazing ride, because you get to kind of go...
31:58
You just go with whatever is happening without having to just stop and keep things for later.
32:03
And like make sure you don't like go very often.
32:06
But I guess it's your job to learn how to do that.
32:11
That's the one thing you experience.
32:15
It's maybe taught me a little bit, is to find my ways to kind of know that things will be there when I need them.
32:25
Speaking of television...
32:27
Well, this I actually have to ask you about, because my girlfriend would kill me if I didn't.
32:31
So, gossip girl.
32:33
Working on that show, which was a big, you know, and still is, so popular in such a kind of,
32:38
I guess, a phenomenon in its own right, and coming into that.
32:41
What was that like? What were your memories working on that show?
32:44
It was just because as big as Potter was, when we were filming it, we were very sheltered from the whole...
32:53
Crazy net around it, like, can help.
32:58
It's impact on the public, whereas what was weird on that show was to be sort of directly faced with the phenomenon it was,
33:09
which I hadn't quite sort of understood, I think, because you're filming streets and stuff,
33:15
and it was constantly like, there was lots of people there, lots of people taking pictures there.
33:21
So, and they were all very used to it, and I was just completely terrified.
33:28
This was the heart of New York, right? That's where a lot of that was shot.
33:31
They came to Paris, and so all of a sudden Paris was going...
33:36
So, I have a memory of just kind of being confronted directly with the impact of something like that.
33:43
And so, having to kind of pretend all of that is not there.
33:50
I'm quite challenging, but because I'm just so not used to it, I do...
33:56
I've mostly done, like, French films, and they're quite like authorish things and kind of...
34:04
So, I was... It was all very new and fun, but also slightly kind of scary.
34:12
So, I'm not very good at like...
34:15
Yeah, I'm quite... I guess I am quite shy, and so it just...
34:18
Yeah, it was a bit...
34:20
A bit much.
34:21
A bit of a shot, a bit of a shot.
34:23
But there were a lot of... It was the same thing.
34:26
It was like, they were... They'd all worked together for a long time, and they were lovely and very welcoming.
34:32
And it was like...
34:36
Like a little... Like wink.
34:40
I wasn't doing much, I just felt like a nice way to kind of come to New York and stuff.
34:45
But yeah, it was... Well, at the time, it was quite impressive.
34:51
And being with like... Yeah, working with Blake Lively in the rest of the past.
34:54
Yeah, because it was out of time. It was huge.
34:57
And I hadn't quite... I hadn't quite like... I'm so... I'm quite naive.
35:02
Maybe I hadn't quite understood what it wouldn't imply.
35:06
And this is question number two that my girlfriend chose to ask me to ask you.
35:10
Like I say, we watched that whole sort of stretch of episodes that you're in, and together.
35:15
And is it rather than rumours, because obviously your character comes in having met the character Chuck Bass.
35:20
You know, this sort of this billionaire, kind of like young billionaire playboy kind of figure.
35:23
It kind of sort of discovers a softer side to him through meeting you.
35:26
Yeah. I guess you could say like that.
35:28
And my girlfriend has convinced that there is this rumour that the original sort of plan was for either your character
35:33
sort of come in and be this sort of main love interest for Chuck.
35:36
For like the show, that was going to be the new relationship.
35:38
And it was going to go one way down that road.
35:40
But then apparently the view at the long time fans who loved like Blair and Chuck or like didn't like that.
35:44
And they were like, no, no, Blair and Chuck, we shipped Blair and Chuck.
35:47
No, I was... I was never going to come in for more than a few episodes.
35:51
Oh, okay. You hear that, Jen?
35:54
So that was...
35:55
That was never the plan.
35:56
That was never the plan.
35:57
I don't think, I mean, or if it was, I was never aware of it.
36:00
Fair enough.
36:01
And also, okay, clear question.
36:03
Did you get to keep any of your gossip girl outfits?
36:05
No.
36:06
No, no, it's all.
36:07
Okay.
36:08
But I can't wear...
36:09
I don't...
36:10
I can't really wear anything though.
36:12
Like anything I keep from films I've done.
36:15
I find really hard to wear anyway.
36:17
Afterwards.
36:18
Is it?
36:19
How come?
36:20
Because it just feels like I'm wearing someone else's clothes.
36:23
So it feels a bit weird.
36:25
Well, I feel like the...
36:26
Don't the costume department also get a little bit finicky about people, like, you know, taking stuff.
36:30
And, like, you know, they don't really cut something like that.
36:34
But on smaller films, you used to be able to kind of buy off your own,
36:38
if you really like like a jacket and stuff.
36:40
But I always feel like I want to keep things because I...
36:43
It's memories, but I can never really wear them again.
36:46
I feel really weird if I do.
36:48
You're going back into that character by way.
36:50
Yeah, it just feels like it belongs to them when I...
36:52
Oh, I mean, on that subject, have you ever kept any souvenirs from the films you've done?
36:57
I have, yeah.
36:58
I've kept some...
36:59
I've got, like, Mary Stewart's wedding dress and stuff.
37:02
But, I mean, obviously, I don't walk around wearing it very often.
37:07
Very often.
37:08
No, I have kept things when I can.
37:13
It's, yeah, it's getting harder now.
37:15
People want to keep things and go, also, with TV series, it's harder,
37:18
because you never know if you're going to shoot another season.
37:21
So, it's kind of...
37:22
I've all wanted to sort of hang on to everything.
37:24
But, no, I have kept things, but they become just more like treasures,
37:29
rather than things that I then incorporate in my day-to-day.
37:34
I mean, yes, is that including stuff like Potter or Bruce or, you know,
37:38
Ten or any of the other sort of things that you've done any sort of, like, particular light?
37:42
I don't...
37:43
I don't think I've kept anything from...
37:45
I think I might have had, like, a...
37:47
tracksuit button that wasn't used in Potter.
37:52
But anything that's used goes to...
37:54
Like, on Potter, everything goes to, like, museums and, like, exhibitions and stuff.
37:58
Like, you didn't...
37:59
There's a dedicated person who gets your wand after every take.
38:02
Really?
38:03
Yes.
38:04
You could probably get quite...
38:05
The wand handler.
38:06
Yeah.
38:07
So, no, I didn't...
38:09
Thank you very much.
38:10
I think there's probably quite a few of them on set, right?
38:12
Because, I mean, everyone...
38:13
No, not everyone.
38:14
No, not everyone.
38:15
Everyone is a wand.
38:16
So, like...
38:17
And all to one.
38:18
How many handlers are on set this for the wand?
38:20
A few, yeah.
38:21
Probably the pop department is quite...
38:22
Quite big.
38:23
I remember a friend of my, sort of, family friend was one of these sort of costume designers
38:27
on the first couple of Potter films.
38:28
Did a bit of this...
38:29
You know, made the...
38:30
Help make the robes.
38:31
You know, they're school robes.
38:32
Okay.
38:33
I remember being about five years old.
38:35
And she gave me, like, a lot of...
38:36
Oh, you wanted a real robe.
38:37
Well, I don't know.
38:38
Anything.
38:39
You know?
38:40
I guess it was, like, peak Potter fan for me.
38:42
And then she gave me...
38:43
Five.
38:44
Well, I mean, the first film would just come out.
38:46
So, I guess I was sort of riding that.
38:48
I remember going into school with, like, a little...
38:50
This is so sad.
38:51
Like, a little...
38:52
You know, there's sort of, like, tattoos
38:54
that you can get, like, a little sort of scratch on.
38:56
Like, a little Harry Potter scar one.
38:57
And I was about...
38:58
Like, only in five to do that.
38:59
Yeah.
39:00
Oh, yeah, no.
39:01
I could say, pretty sad.
39:02
But, yes.
39:03
Oh, why?
39:04
That was me at five years old.
39:05
But, yeah.
39:06
She gave me, like, a little sort of piece of the sort of robe
39:09
that she was wearing.
39:10
Okay.
39:11
And she was wearing...
39:12
You framed it.
39:13
Yeah.
39:14
No, it's such a...
39:15
It's somewhere.
39:16
But, I guess we mentioned before, we mentioned tenon.
39:17
And we even talked a little bit before we started rolling about,
39:18
sort of, you working on tenon.
39:19
Because, yeah, you...
39:20
I guess, in many ways, you have maybe the pivotal scene in tenon.
39:22
Like, focusing on on that.
39:23
You have the scene where, you know, you know,
39:25
John David Washington comes in and you basically explain to him
39:27
on the audience how the inversion works.
39:29
You know, the whole backwards time thing
39:31
that sort of runs through that whole film.
39:33
What was your experience like working on that film?
39:34
I mean, again, in one scene, but a very important scene.
39:37
Like, what's that like?
39:38
It was just amazing to watch people who knew each other so well
39:43
work together.
39:44
And not needing to kind of aim much to...
39:49
Like, there was a calm...
39:51
There's a peacefulness on that set.
39:54
I mean, obviously, the scenes were quite contained.
39:57
And it wasn't like a big...
39:59
It wasn't anything, actually.
40:01
The peacefulness of it was what really struck me.
40:03
And it also has to do with no one having phones on the set.
40:08
Is that a rule?
40:09
Yeah.
40:10
And it's brilliant what that does for concentration.
40:13
Because it does mean everyone is like in the same place
40:18
rather than everyone sort of slightly...
40:21
What's the meaning?
40:22
Yeah.
40:23
I had that line, I think I said,
40:24
I don't try to understand it, feel it.
40:25
And it felt very much like a sort of rule to keep
40:28
when you're entering that set.
40:30
It's like, I might not understand everything I'm saying.
40:34
Because I hadn't read the rest of the script.
40:36
I only had read that scene.
40:38
So I just try to take that motor
40:40
as something I could use as well.
40:45
And I try not to understand it too much and just feel it.
40:51
I was going to say that that line is kind of almost the line.
40:56
It's a key to the movie as well.
40:57
It's a key to the movie.
40:58
Don't try to understand it because it's completely bonkers.
41:01
But just feel it and enjoy it.
41:03
So you only had the piece of script that you were shooting.
41:05
And then when you saw the finished film,
41:07
was that just like when you watched that
41:09
and you see that sort of how complicated sort of mobius loop
41:12
of a structure when you're watching it.
41:14
When you first saw it, you were like,
41:15
yeah, there's no way.
41:16
Understanding this is just...
41:18
Because when I first watched it, I was like,
41:20
okay, he's there and he's running backwards there.
41:23
But there's something I find it so playful that movie
41:26
was it's this thing of like,
41:28
you're going to have to watch it a few times.
41:30
And I love that.
41:31
I love that idea.
41:32
Especially it came out right after Covid
41:35
when cinemas had been closed.
41:37
And all of a sudden it was like an invitation
41:39
to all go back to the cinema and try to go back again
41:42
and go back again to experience something together
41:45
different various times.
41:47
And I just thought I was...
41:50
I found it very...
41:51
Many people were like,
41:53
I feel in English.
41:54
Just, you know, there's something quite joyful
41:57
about it somehow.
41:59
Yeah, because it is a playful movie in the sense that,
42:01
as you say, it's like, because obviously,
42:02
I think Nolan is a director who has that reputation
42:04
for making certain more serious movies,
42:06
like Oppenheimer or like, you know,
42:08
the Dark Knight or Dunkirk.
42:09
And then, but then there is a playfulness in there,
42:11
I think, implicitly.
42:12
And I think you really see that.
42:14
And the love of cinema and the love of these audience,
42:17
I think, and respect for this.
42:19
And respect for his audience and knowing that
42:22
he's going to, like,
42:24
assuming that people love cinema as much as he does,
42:27
and are going to, like,
42:28
when I get into that maze,
42:30
and kind of, nah, I thought I was brilliant.
42:33
I remember, something Gary Olman said,
42:35
who obviously has worked with Christopher Nolan a few times,
42:37
and he said that when it comes to just, like,
42:39
efficiency of shooting and process,
42:41
like, he's very, very good at just being like,
42:43
okay, we've got to do the scene
42:45
and do it obviously the best we can,
42:46
but, like, you know, I think Gary said that he was,
42:48
you know, Nolan typically goes two takes.
42:50
Oh, yeah, you don't do it many, yeah, you don't do it many times.
42:53
But that's what I mean about.
42:55
It's, like, this huge ship that works perfectly,
42:58
oiled, and everyone knows what they're,
43:00
and I do think cinema is about, like,
43:03
everyone coming together and doing this,
43:05
and I think that's the beauty of it,
43:07
is, like, it's the tetris, like,
43:09
if you don't have all the elements, it doesn't work.
43:13
And when everyone is so used to looking the same way
43:18
as what you see on his sets,
43:21
then it's very incredibly graceful with, like, a dance.
43:24
And so that's quite magical to witness, really.
43:28
I remember we had on this pod, Tristan Oliver,
43:30
who's a really interesting and great cameraman, D.O.P.
43:33
He shoots a lot of wasanderson stuff.
43:35
He shoots a lot of the stop-motion animated films,
43:37
like The Thessalon's The Fox,
43:38
and he was saying, like, yeah, exactly that,
43:40
that the crew is obviously, you know,
43:42
that's how the movie gets made,
43:43
and he was saying the first AD,
43:44
if you don't have a good first AD,
43:46
you don't get a movie.
43:47
And it's like, the first AD is almost like four.
43:49
He's right there in the middle of, like, the chaos,
43:51
sometimes when we were saying,
43:52
it's like holding it all together,
43:53
and it's like, that is how it is the people,
43:55
it's kind of, you know, that is how it brings it all together.
43:58
And again, I guess creates that family atmosphere,
44:01
as well, when it, I guess, when it works at its best,
44:03
because I mean, has someone who's worked on sets
44:04
a couple times myself,
44:05
it is like, when it works, those really good days,
44:07
and everyone gels, and it's a...
44:09
Well, it's not a dysfunctional family.
44:11
It's brilliant.
44:12
Is that it?
44:13
When it's not the World Talent Bams,
44:14
when it's, you know, it's a good,
44:16
it's a functioning family, yeah.
44:18
Yeah, I mean, it's a bit like, a bit cliché,
44:20
but I guess there's, to say family,
44:23
but it is what you've come back to,
44:25
because it's the great luxury of this job
44:30
is getting to do things.
44:33
It's both this thing where you're like,
44:35
I can't do it on my own,
44:36
so I can't practice on my own.
44:37
I need all the other people,
44:39
but it's the beauty of it as well,
44:42
which is like, it's something you can't do.
44:45
And what I love is that every craft on a movie
44:49
is a story is a way to deal with storytelling,
44:54
from what happens before the movie
44:57
to when you're filming, to after,
45:00
and everyone is like putting their craft
45:04
in a service, that same story,
45:08
and that's amazing to witness, really.
45:11
Everyone's part of the process.
45:13
No matter how seemingly sort of small a role,
45:16
it's all one thing.
45:18
And speaking of a filmmaking process and directing,
45:20
I mean, you yourself have directed, you know,
45:22
a few times, you know, you directed the tears thing.
45:24
I think that's the English translation of your,
45:26
of the short film.
45:27
And, you know, you've been directed one of the shorts
45:29
in the H-24 project, which is a credible project.
45:32
You know, 24 female filmmakers making these 24 short films
45:35
about just aspects of the sort of, I guess,
45:38
female experience, such brilliant pieces of work.
45:40
And I was wondering, would you ever,
45:41
you talk so enthusiastically about the filmmaking process
45:44
and about being on set?
45:45
Would you ever be tempted to pick up the camera again
45:47
and direct something?
45:48
Is that something that you're planning on doing?
45:50
I want to.
45:51
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
45:52
That's in the works, as you can see that.
45:56
Yeah, sure.
45:57
Yeah.
45:59
I've been writing, co-writing,
46:04
and we're now, like, developing something.
46:07
So, hopefully, that'll happen one day.
46:09
I don't know.
46:10
It's like, then you enter a whole stage of, like,
46:14
trying to get something financed.
46:17
And that's quite tricky as well.
46:19
So, I don't want to kind of jinx it.
46:21
But, yeah, I'd love to.
46:23
And would you ever, would you direct yourself in like once
46:26
or would it all be speed-taking?
46:28
No.
46:29
I don't know how people do it.
46:30
I don't understand how I'd find it so hard,
46:35
editing myself.
46:36
I can't think of anything worse.
46:38
Oh, my God.
46:39
I don't want to, like, having to live with your face
46:43
for that amount of time on a screen.
46:47
I mean, you do live with your face.
46:49
But, no, my biggest joy when I did those shorts
46:55
was to direct other people and work with actors.
47:00
So, I feel like I deprived myself of that,
47:03
having to do it myself.
47:05
But some people do it brilliantly.
47:07
And I heard French actors say that,
47:10
also just by acting in his films,
47:14
he didn't really need to direct other people
47:17
because of the rhythm.
47:19
Because he knew what rhythm he was after.
47:22
Because he was himself kind of saying the lines.
47:26
Everyone was following.
47:28
So, that's probably a way to be the chef-dochist,
47:33
like, what do you call that, in an orchestra?
47:35
A conductor?
47:36
A conductor.
47:37
It's one way to do it.
47:40
But I don't know if I would find the openness
47:46
and fragility, or vulnerability, again,
47:51
I need, while acting, to kind of be,
47:56
like, to have all these emotions available.
47:59
I don't know if I would be able to...
48:01
I don't know how that works with having to, like,
48:03
be in charge of a set.
48:04
And talk to H.O.D.
48:05
He said, like, at that line.
48:06
I don't know how that works.
48:07
I feel naked.
48:08
It does seem like a pretty big jump.
48:10
It seems to me going from, yeah,
48:12
like, having your actor have, being vulnerable.
48:14
And also, acting with someone you're also directing.
48:17
I think, even for the other actor, that would be a bit weird.
48:21
But then it's interesting how...
48:22
Because I hear her for you saying,
48:23
but then it is interesting how a lot of actors do
48:25
seem to want to make that jump.
48:26
Yeah.
48:27
And direct themselves.
48:28
Well, you spend a lot of time on the lines you work.
48:30
You know, you write scripts.
48:32
You're like, I think these are good lines.
48:33
So I can see the peel.
48:35
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
48:36
I like them.
48:38
This is how I want them.
48:39
It would be nice to...
48:40
But also, it is so nice to kind of watch other people
48:43
do that job when I find it.
48:46
Like, I kind of...
48:48
But I feel like that's how I am on a set, really.
48:51
I just kind of love watching the actors I get to act with.
48:55
Act.
48:56
Do you ever go back and watch your old films or your old work?
48:59
Is it something that you do?
49:00
Or is it something that you'd rather...
49:02
You avoid, I guess.
49:04
Because some actors don't...
49:05
I don't...
49:06
No, I don't really.
49:09
I don't.
49:10
Fair enough, fair enough.
49:12
Well, I mean, like I said, I think it's quite common.
49:14
I think actors would rather just...
49:16
And again, it's like that mindset, I guess, of like,
49:18
you know, if you focus too much on like something that you did...
49:21
20 years ago, 30 years ago, I think David Bowie said,
49:23
like, you know, you don't want to run the risk of potentially getting stuck in a rut
49:26
where you sort of only focus on, oh, that project, that was good.
49:29
Yeah.
49:30
Or, you know, it's more of just about moving on to the next thing.
49:33
Sometimes you're a bit more into...
49:35
Because if I watch something right after I finish it,
49:38
then I...
49:39
It's quite hard because you just...
49:41
You just see what you feel like you've not done right,
49:45
or what you wish you'd done differently, or...
49:48
And sometimes if you've got enough time between...
49:51
Between a job and watching it again,
49:55
you're a little bit more indulgent,
49:57
and kinder to yourself.
50:00
And sometimes it's just fun to watch a movie.
50:03
It's a good movie.
50:04
But most of the time it's just quite painful.
50:10
Sometimes I hear that it's like almost watching a home movie.
50:13
It's like, you go back and watch an old movie.
50:15
It's like, oh, that scene.
50:16
And we're like, that day.
50:17
I remember that day.
50:18
There's memories coming back.
50:21
I don't know.
50:23
I don't know, because I've not done it for a really long time, actually.
50:26
I've not watched anything I've...
50:29
I've done for a long time.
50:31
Sometimes you end up with, like, little clips.
50:34
It's strange.
50:36
But, yeah.
50:38
Well, one last question.
50:41
Okay.
50:42
So, I remember reading an interview with you from this way back when
50:46
this is quite a while ago now, where I think it was sort of...
50:49
It was quite early in your career.
50:50
I remember you saying that at the time you weren't sure if...
50:53
If acting, I mean, you loved acting,
50:55
but you weren't sure if it was the thing you wanted to do with your life.
50:57
It wasn't the goal.
50:58
I remember you saying something to the effect of, like, I really enjoy it.
51:00
But I'm not sure if this is going to be what I do for the next 10, 20, 30 years.
51:05
Is acting something that has your heart now?
51:07
Is it the thing that for you now is like, oh, no, this is what I love to do,
51:09
and this is what I want to do, or is it still a little bit like...
51:12
You know, I think a lot of things, I don't know if I said that,
51:15
or if I, like, meant it.
51:20
I get quite...
51:21
There's a sort of superstition and a fear that things can stop
51:28
from one day to the next, and maybe when I was young,
51:32
I was kind of very aware of that,
51:34
and I'm not wanting to seem to sure about anything,
51:39
because I wasn't.
51:41
So it definitely has my heart, like, of course.
51:44
It's such a...
51:45
I was thinking that the other day, I was thinking it's an amazing...
51:48
It's such an amazing job.
51:52
Because of the job itself, of course,
51:56
because of everything you learn, because of everything you experience,
51:58
the way you get to express someone else's world.
52:03
But also, it's this incredible job where everyone around you
52:08
is making sure that you're in the right conditions to do your job,
52:12
and I was thinking how...
52:14
I'd say this a lot privileged, but it really is.
52:17
I feel like a lot of people in this world would want to do a better job,
52:24
like a lot of us want to do a better job,
52:27
and because of funding and time, and not enough people,
52:30
and not enough society,
52:33
it makes it quite hard for a lot of people to do their job.
52:36
And I was just like, oh, my God, can you...
52:38
Can actors realize how lucky we are that you have a whole set,
52:42
basically, making sure that you're in the perfect condition
52:46
to do what you've got to do?
52:48
Having been able to do that since I was 16,
52:52
I just...
52:55
If I look at the world around me,
52:58
I can make it...
53:01
I just feel incredibly lucky.
53:05
And so, yeah, there's that, there's the love of cinema and stories.
53:11
There was this idea, I think, growing up as a woman,
53:15
that because when I started,
53:20
it's quite unlikely that you'd still be acting when you were in your forties.
53:23
There was a very, very small amount of actresses
53:27
who would still work after a certain age.
53:29
So, I think I was... I sort of grew up with that idea in mind,
53:34
and then...
53:35
And so, maybe that's why I said that.
53:37
I was thinking, oh, oh, my God, I'll still get to do it.
53:40
And me too has changed...
53:43
Do you think, I think?
53:45
I found myself on sets with other actresses of my generation,
53:50
and we were kind of telling ourselves,
53:52
so look at this.
53:53
Like, we wouldn't have been doing this part even 10 years ago.
53:57
It would have been someone 10 years younger,
54:00
or 15 years younger.
54:02
So, what I hope is that there's space for actresses to age as well.
54:08
Quite like that.
54:11
And I guess that's also part of directing,
54:14
and being able to write characters who I want to see as well.
54:21
Yeah, great parts.
54:23
For people who are older,
54:25
and I think you are absolutely right for what I've seen.
54:28
I think there is a growing amount of...
54:30
Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of work to go.
54:32
There's a lot of work to go.
54:33
It's a lot of work to go.
54:34
Absolutely, but it is changing,
54:36
and I really honestly don't think I ever thought
54:39
that'd still be so sad to think of that.
54:42
That at 20, I was just like, probably in 10 years.
54:46
So, yeah, there's a lot of interviews,
54:49
there's a lot of like,
54:52
I don't want to jinx it, kind of thing.
54:55
Well, I mean, it's been...
54:58
Well, I hear what you say about the idea of it being...
55:01
It is a privilege, because you get to do this job,
55:04
and just for hearing you talk about it so much passion,
55:06
it sounds fantastic.
55:07
And you clearly do love it so much.
55:09
And it has been a privilege as well,
55:11
just having you on the show just to chat to you about it.
55:13
It's great to hear about that passion that you have for it,
55:15
just for you to sort of talk about it,
55:16
and obviously all the amazing work you've done over the years,
55:19
which I'm a fan of, and I know we know many people here are a fan of.
55:22
So, what can I say?
55:23
Thank you so much for coming on the show.
55:24
You're fine.
55:35
Hey, everyone.
55:36
Thanks so much for listening to my chat with Clements Poetry.
55:39
Remember to like and subscribe to the podcast
55:41
so you never miss an episode.
55:42
And stay tuned for more exciting interviews and guests coming soon,
55:45
on half the picture.