Latest / Half the Picture / Karla Crome talks writing Possession, playing Jess in Misfits & exploring history with horror

Transcript

Karla Crome talks writing Possession, playing Jess in Misfits & exploring history with horror · Half the Picture

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actors who take on work and then criticize it during the process are just horrible to work with a lot of people would have done a lot of hard work to get it to the line and i just think it's just good manners you know if you really hate something you can if you're smart you can find a way to speak positively about it if you're not very smart then you can't
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So please, double check if you've subscribed.
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Thank you so much.
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Is this the first podcast you've done for the show?
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Yeah.
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Like, to talk about The Possession?
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Yeah.
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Cool.
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Okay.
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Exciting.
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Yeah.
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Exciting stuff.
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Because you're a big podcast fan, I want to say, right?
0:51
Yeah, I love podcasts.
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I've heard you talk over the years.
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You've always been, like, you know, a listener.
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Yeah.
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Do you have any particular faves?
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Obviously not this one, but, like, any that you like listening to?
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Beyond this one.
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I...
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Not film-based ones, really.
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I love, like, true crime.
1:06
Oh, yeah.
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Like everyone else.
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Yeah.
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I don't know.
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Just sort of the weird and wonderful, really.
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Yeah.
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Kind of like sort of niche subjects that you don't really know much about.
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Yeah, I also use it to get my, like, news content.
1:22
I'd prefer to listen to Woman's Hour than to watch the news.
1:25
Yeah.
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Because...
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I like the way that information is filtered and I like opinion pieces on things rather than kind of...
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I find watching the news quite stressful so it keeps me up to date with things without giving me crippling anxiety really.
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Yeah and I guess there's also maybe more of a chance there's going to be less of a bias as well.
1:46
Yeah, yeah.
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Is that more unfiltered?
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Yes, exactly and it depends where you go to get your news I suppose but I'd like...
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it's nice to hear somebody who knows what they're talking about.
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Yeah.
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Talk about the issues of the day, if you know what I mean.
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Yeah.
1:57
Do us to the news agents.
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Hmm.
1:59
Do us to the news agents.
2:00
No.
2:00
Oh, that's a good one.
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Yeah.
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Emily Maitlis.
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Oh, okay.
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Does it.
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When I asked a mate of mine, like, Oh, what kind of, cause I was in a similar position.
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I didn't really, what didn't really, the newscast was stressing me out.
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And I was like, what kind of news other sources do you recommend?
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He was like, I'll check this one out.
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So, so there's a recommendation.
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Okay.
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Thank you.
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News agents.
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Yeah, she's great.
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But less film kind of podcast, more kind of like more.
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I like the one that Mark Kermode and Eleni Jones do.
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Oh, yeah.
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The BBC screenshot.
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Have you listened to that?
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I know of it.
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I'm a big Kermode fan.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Is that quite recent, that one?
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It's just...
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It's been going for a while now.
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And the format is that they will take something like...
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I don't know, um, folk horror or anime or, um, films about divorce, like a wide range of subjects and kind of focus in on two or three.
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Hmm.
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important pieces to whatever the kind of broad subject is about and I like that it's very informative and they often disagree on things and they yeah they just do a deep dive into a particular genre which is fun films about divorce for example yeah like Kramer vs Kramer they did whatever so yeah exactly yeah I like that one
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Have you ever seen, speaking about films about divorce and horror, have you ever seen Possession, the Sam Neill, Isabella Jarni?
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No, no.
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But, okay.
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If you want a film about divorce, that'll blow your head off.
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Right.
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That's one.
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Okay.
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Similarly, Core Possession, to your show.
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That's Scott, Sam Neill, R.I.P.
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Yeah.
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And Isabella Jarni, a couple going for divorce.
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Yeah.
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And the woman is essentially, I mean, spoiler alert, but cheating on Sam Neill, Isabella Jarni's cheating on Sam Neill with...
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Something not of this world.
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Yeah.
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Essentially, if you want it in a nutshell.
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It's done by...
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I would love to watch that.
3:58
You've got to check it out.
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It's great.
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I would love to watch that.
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Yeah.
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I think it's on Shudder.
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It's like you can... Oh, it was on Shudder, but you should definitely check it out.
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Okay.
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And Sam Neill's amazing.
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Yeah, yeah.
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That's as well.
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We actually did a video on the pod about it a few months ago.
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We did a little, like, sort of bite-sized review of it.
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Okay.
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But it's worth checking.
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If you want to be, like, freaked out and kind of fascinated, it's worth checking out.
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That's why I love horror.
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I think it's such a smart Trojan horse to talk about our anxieties, you know, and, you know, whether it be divorce or separation or whatever.
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So I would love to watch that.
4:33
I remember you saying we mentioned earlier that like you know you're a big fan of horror and like with Possession the show that you've done I mean actually I was going to ask like it's sort of as an opener like what can you tell what can you tell us about the show like because you've written it yeah what can people expect from the show so it's uh uh the long-winded answer if you would like it there's kind of it's kind of a three-pronged thing because there's a question about what Possession is about and then
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as Gugu put it, what it's about in the wider term.
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So in terms of the narrative, it's about this ambitious mixed race British solicitor who finds an opportunity to kind of get ahead in her career by representing a wealthy landowning family who have land in the Caribbean.
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And the patriarch of this family has died and he's disinherited his only son and left his entire fortune to this unknown black Jamaican man.
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And she suspects that it's fraud and she travels out with her client to Jamaica to kind of get to the bottom of what's going on.
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And...
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she pulls at this thread that kind of leads her into something much darker, much more sinister, um, and otherworldly, I guess.
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So that's the narrative.
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Um, and then in terms of themes, there's a lot going on about identity, colonialism, enslavement and reparations.
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Um, and,
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But it's all kind of wrapped up, I hope, in this very pacey, entertaining kind of thrill ride that is not too preachy, I hope, but leaves people kind of asking questions.
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Yeah, I mean, we were saying before we sat down, but I watched the first two episodes of the show and I really enjoyed them.
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And for that exact thing of like, you know, pacey kind of like...
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mystery but then also you have these real sort of genre elements in there of horror and then these real sort of meaty themes but i say about like enslavement and emancipation and reparations and and all it's kind of like a boiling there's a lot going on in it yeah and because of course you wrote it yeah you were the writer on it i mean what are those themes all everything that you've just said is how important are those to you as a writer on the show so um
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Interestingly, me being a part of this project was my friend Jenny Vanderland, who was working in development at a production company called Snowden at the time.
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We had gone for lunch and she said, I've been talking to Jefferson Bannis, another writer.
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And they sort of had this kernel of an idea about an eyewitness to enslavement being involved in some kind of inheritance dispute.
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And she said to me, we're looking for a writer.
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That's the premise.
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And it was as kind of loose as that.
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What do you think?
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And what would you do with it?
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And I just felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
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There was something about it that wouldn't leave me alone.
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And often you go for these meetings and you kind of chat ideas and the kind of spaces that you're interested in, in terms of theme and genre.
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And there was something about it that I just found particularly intriguing and sort of fantastic and magical.
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And I said, yeah, I would like to think about that more.
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And then...
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from that kernel of an idea, things start to grow and you start to come up with characters and ideas and everything.
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So to your point about the themes, that idea came first.
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And then we had this character, this unknown entity, which is Kujo East in the script.
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And then
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From that, we started unraveling and looking more deeply into themes and Jamaican history and the UK's history with Jamaica and emancipation and our shared history.
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And even though as a woman of color and as someone with Jamaican heritage, I understand that history.
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It's not something I necessarily was chomping at the bit to write about or exercise for myself.
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But the deeper we got into it, it was more like, you know, at the risk of sounding wanky.
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Can I say wanky?
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That's fine.
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You can say whatever you're saying.
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Oh, fantastic.
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You can swear.
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You sort of become a conduit for something bigger, you know?
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And...
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you can't climb the tower without ringing the bell.
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So if you're going to have a character who's a product of enslavement, you have to go into that kind of dark territory.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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You can't shy away from it.
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No.
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No.
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I remember you saying once that like a project, because I think a lot, some people might know you as an actor, you know, projects like we haven't mentioned some of the stuff you've done, but like Misfits, of course, you know, big show in the UK, something very bad is going to happen.
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It dropped early this year on Netflix.
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It was a success.
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And now this possession, which you're just taking a writing credit on.
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and in terms of I guess balancing those two disciplines of being an actor and a writer I mean something that we ask a lot of the guests on the pod is like what makes a good insert film profession here and you obviously doing you know two big ones acting and writing I mean for you what makes a good actor and what makes a good writer and how does that apply to for you to possession I think I think in many ways they're quite similar and
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in so much as at its core, both disciplines are about storytelling and they're about a character who kind of has an objective and hits obstacles along the way and then gets to where they need to go.
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When I was training as an actor,
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So we learned many different things at drama school, but one of them would be, OK, like, what does your character want and what tactics are you going to use and play with in order to get that objective?
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And the same is true for writing that you've got this character and you need to get them to somewhere and they need to change along the course of the story.
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So...
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I think there are similar disciplines in that sense.
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And I think being an actor gives you a better instinct for what makes good writing.
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I've heard it said that actors write good dialogue because they understand the rhythm and cadence of how people talk.
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And you can certainly quickly smell out a good script from a bad one because...
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it just sits in you more naturally and you can learn the lines quicker and the rhythm of it just flows.
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So to me, they're not hugely different.
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The good thing about the last couple of years is that I've really started to do work that aligns with my taste.
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And I didn't necessarily have that choice before.
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So that is a really exciting space to be in.
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I mean what kind of you mentioned like your tastes or what kind of tastes are those or what do those look like the projects that you align with those tastes I love documentaries right and we've so many out there that are just stranger than fiction and I think I actually took myself on a long walk the other day and I was sort of pontificating on this and thinking about it but I think my taste is that
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is something that just pushes the envelope a little bit and feels, even if it's in subtle ways, just a little bit magical and fantastic.
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And that could be, and so something that is not quite in our reality, and it can be really, really subtle, but I feel like if we're going to put stories on the screen that are,
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absolutely grounded in our reality then I think to myself well well I could watch a documentary you know like we've got this amazing medium of film or theatre where we can let our imaginations kind of go crazy so why not um that's my taste yeah so something stuff that's kind of heightened or like you know in a slightly like one degree off maybe yeah yeah just even if it's slightly left of field
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yeah yeah I mean and there's certainly a fair amount of that in possession yeah what I've seen I mean like we were saying uh before we started rolling but like I mean I've only seen the first two episodes but at the end of that second episode something pretty you know out there stuff starts going down yeah I mean is that kind of those kind of
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in a kind of horror sense, are those elements that we can expect more from as people who watch the show can expect?
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Those full-blooded genre elements kind of come in?
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Yes.
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When you come to production, it's really interesting because you hear everyone's different perspective on what the story is.
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I always saw it as a gothic horror, as, you know...
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woman in white or dracula or um even jane eyre where there's a house on a hill a solicitor a young professional has to go off there and sort of sort something out and there's a secret there's something to be uncovered and the same is true in possession it's the house on the hill it's the strange history it's an inheritance dispute it's a secret past um
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um that it just happens to be modern day and the protagonist just happens to be a mixed race woman which doesn't happen in those other sort of classic uh pieces of literature um yeah so there's the gothic and then there's the horror um which kind of i think they sort of talk to each other really yeah and it does get
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Bizarre.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I mean, I hear that about horror sets in general that like, you know, not only just peeking behind the curtain of mechanics kind of obviously takes that sort of horror sheen off, you know, if you see how it works, it's not scary, but also like just horror sets of having been on a couple, like they're pretty like, you know,
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lively, fun environments.
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People aren't creeping about.
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They're very enthusiastic.
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In my experience, people are having a good time.
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I'm guessing, was that what it was like?
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Especially with that cast and crew.
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We mentioned John Lee Miller and Gugu.
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Great cast and crew you're working with.
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Was that what it was like working with those guys on the set?
15:14
Yeah.
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In my professional experience, I've rarely had a bad experience on set with the group of people that I'm working with.
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But...
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All of the cast of Possession were so passionate about the story we were telling and telling it well that I felt really, really lucky to have them.
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And just everyone's main concern was doing a great job.
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And I didn't feel in any case that anybody was phoning it in or didn't want to be there.
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It was just absolute professionalism from day one, which I really appreciate.
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And yeah, just a lovely group of people that I'd work with again in a heartbeat.
16:02
and going back to the horror elements like what kind of influence you mentioned some great titles there even stuff like Jane Eyre like you know the influences on Possession I mean what kind of films or other texts were kind of influencing you in the writing of the show and the conceptualising of it like maybe some of your favourites or what was kind of influencing you?
16:18
In terms of film I
16:24
I don't know.
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It's hard to say what's directly influenced it, I would say.
16:28
I think Storm would be better to answer that question because I know the references he had were really far reaching.
16:38
Like even the moments of coming into Jamaica and feeling kind of the heat and the markets and everything was from City of God, you know.
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So he had totally different kind of references for everything.
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But...
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I just like the way that horror kind of makes me feel.
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It makes me sit up and it makes my pupils dilate and it makes me feel alive.
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Yeah, it's just a feeling more than anything.
17:05
My favourite horror film of the last couple of years was Bring Her Back by the Philippou Brothers, which I absolutely loved.
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Incredible.
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And that was, I watched that kind of film
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during the production process, but that film was horrific, really hard to watch.
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And I'm glad I watched it in a cinema because I think if I'd watched it at home, I would have turned it off.
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But it was also really moving and full of heart as well.
17:41
And I really hope to be able to emulate something like that,
17:46
Yeah, for sure.
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I mean, I mean, as someone who I mean, I kind of, you know, when I'm on Letterboxd and I'm rating films and reviewing them, I tend to traffic in hyper, hyper, hyperbolic quite a lot.
17:54
But like that, I remember when I watched that, I was like, because it's so I agree, it's so moving.
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And it's so shocking.
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There's scenes in that film, which are really hard to watch.
18:02
Yeah.
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And like, and it reminded me of the Babadook.
18:05
Yeah, I love that film as well.
18:06
Yeah, just like a horror film about grief.
18:09
Yeah, yeah.
18:10
It's just, it's brilliant.
18:11
I absolutely love that.
18:12
That's a great shout.
18:13
I mean, I took my girlfriend to see that and the scene with the knife happens.
18:17
Yeah.
18:18
God.
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Yeah.
18:21
I was sitting there, we were sitting there in Hackney Pitch House, just like not being able to look at the screen.
18:25
Yeah.
18:26
And I glad sort of said, oh, you know, this, this should be fun.
18:28
Yeah.
18:28
I'd seen like, it seemed like talk to me.
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Like, yeah, this should be fine.
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It was like, okay.
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Yeah.
18:32
And talk to me was also really moving, you know, um, in its exploration of grief.
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Um, and there is something that grief is dark and horrible.
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And, uh,
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it is a horror film.
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And there is grief.
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There's generational grief in possession and also personal grief.
19:00
But I don't, I certainly don't think it's as dark as those.
19:09
But,
19:10
there is sort of a dichotomy going on.
19:14
Yeah.
19:16
And to both, there's also a kind of sense of magic and something that's otherworldly and rituals.
19:20
I mean, Sally Hawkins in that film.
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Yeah.
19:22
You know, the stuff that she's doing.
19:24
I mean, the acting in that film is also fantastic.
19:26
Yeah, yeah.
19:26
She's amazing.
19:27
Yeah.
19:27
So that was something that you were looking at when you were writing it and in the production.
19:31
Was that in the production specifically?
19:33
That's very true, actually.
19:35
Yeah.
19:35
Sometimes you don't consciously know what you're drawing from, but...
19:39
The idea of ritual and spiritual practice is really prominent in possession.
19:46
So.
19:49
When enslaved people were taken from Africa to the Caribbean, they kind of.
19:55
They bought their traditions with them, but obviously they were not allowed to practice them anymore under fear of death.
20:02
And there were forced conversions to Christianity.
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But people kept certain elements of their religious and spiritual practices, which had to be practiced in secret, but survived.
20:13
And...
20:17
enslavers and plantation owners were really scared of these practices because they gave people back their autonomy and their peoplehood and that's what led them to revolution and rebellion so interestingly when Claudia arrives in Jamaica and she starts to um see elements of this spiritual practice like in the nine night sequence um
20:41
It feels scary to her.
20:44
And the way that it's shot and performed feels kind of scary and intimidating.
20:50
But as she moves through her adventure, she has a different relationship with it.
20:57
Well, John Lee Miller has this line in episode two about how, which is, and it's, I want to say this is the truth that after emancipation and then slavery was, was ended, the British government had to compensate the British slave owners over in the Caribbean for all the slaves that they lost upwards of like 20 million pounds or something.
21:16
That's right.
21:16
And this was in the, I want to say the 19th or 18th century.
21:19
Yeah.
21:19
And apparently that was a loan that they had to take out for £20 million.
21:23
And the British taxpayer only finished paying that off in 2015.
21:26
Is that right?
21:27
Yes, that's correct, yeah.
21:29
And that was Johnny's favourite line in the show.
21:31
And it's quite hard to deliver that.
21:33
You did it very well just then.
21:35
But it's quite hard to deliver that sort of conversationally.
21:38
Yes.
21:38
And I think our challenge as the kind of writers, and I mean that in terms of script team and everything, was...
21:48
how do we make these facts relevant to people today?
21:51
Because you're kind of, you want to bring in all sorts of audiences and people are skeptical and critical of the idea of reparations.
22:00
But I think when you find facts like that, that can't be argued, it really makes people sit up and take notice when you're going, hang on a minute, you mean my taxes that I paid in 2015 were paying back the Bank of England
22:17
who were paying off slave owning families.
22:20
So your taxes pay, uh, we're just, just finished paying off slave owners and the slaves were not compensated or the enslaved, I should say.
22:29
So, um, that is kind of a crazy fact.
22:34
Um, and it shows that the past is still present.
22:38
it still it still has bearing yeah on today totally yeah and it is mad yeah that is mad I mean when he says that yeah he said I mean I think you even says like is that true yeah and he's like look it up yeah you can yeah that that was still that is that is a fact yeah yeah and presented like that because I really like the idea of an audience going hang on pause it I'm gonna check yeah it can't be true and of course it is
23:01
totally yeah I remember you saying once that like something that you'd and this was a few years ago I think but like a project that you really wanted that you to do that you were very passionate about was something that did explore this kind of the nuances of sort of black British culture and black British life and maybe something that we in a way that we hadn't really seen before because we don't always see I think on on British telly anyway I think those stories and do you think possession kind of represent that for you like the realization of that goal yeah I I hope so um
23:29
I really, what I'm really confident about with this project, and I hope not in a way that is overconfident or arrogant, but I really feel like there's nothing like it.
23:46
And I haven't seen anything like it.
23:48
And I think that's already a win because there are so many versions of the same thing out there.
23:54
Whereas I feel like this is something truly,
23:58
unique and I'm incredibly proud of that.
24:02
And I suppose it's take on the black British experience is unique as well because it is about the mixed race experience.
24:17
Although there has been, you know, a lot of varied and brilliant work about that before.
24:22
I think Claudia's story is a, is a fresh take.
24:29
And do you think we need to see more, we should be seeing more of those stories and more of those takes?
24:34
Yeah.
24:34
Do you think there's room for more of that?
24:36
Do you think there should be more of that?
24:38
Always, always.
24:39
Like we were saying, there's this whole wealth of talent in the Caribbean and part of our, when we were looking for a director,
24:48
we started engaging with this kind of new wave of Caribbean cinema that I wasn't even aware of.
24:55
And I was watching these amazing films out of, like, Trinidad and the Bahamas and Jamaica.
25:01
And it's just culturally different.
25:06
I mean, I know the British story and I know the US one because that's all I was raised on, you know.
25:12
And I'm not just talking about sort of average white guy or whatever in either circumstance, but...
25:19
I'm curious about the stories of a person who grows up in rural Trinidad because I've never seen it.
25:26
So it's not solely about the black British diaspora.
25:32
It's just about foreign storytelling, you know?
25:37
Yeah.
25:37
So touching back on the writing for a second there, and I guess your dual professions of acting and writing, I mean, would you ever sort of, because I know typically the stuff you write, you don't act in.
25:46
Yeah.
25:46
I mean, would you ever write something or produce something for yourself to act in?
25:49
I would.
25:50
I'd love to.
25:51
I think I'd definitely like to do that in the future.
25:55
I'm not...
25:57
entirely sure how it would work.
25:59
But obviously it does because people do it all the time.
26:05
But yeah, I'd certainly be open to it.
26:08
I love comedy.
26:09
I love doing comedy.
26:10
So I'd like to explore that with that hat on.
26:15
But, you know, I'm really shit at coming up with ideas.
26:22
I'm really great at the development process and kind of working it out.
26:25
But the,
26:27
the kind of initial big idea, the big provocation.
26:32
I really struggle with that.
26:34
Yeah.
26:34
Whereas coming in on board to a provocation... Yeah, even if it's, as with this one, even if it's just a line or an idea or a conceit, then I have something to jump off from.
26:44
But the idea, I don't know.
26:48
Yeah.
26:49
Well, you mentioned how much you like to write comedy.
26:51
I mean, what is it specifically, any specific kinds of comedy?
26:54
Like, you know, do you have any favourite particular strands of comedy?
26:57
Only that I have really enjoyed doing Am I Being Unreasonable, and I've done that for, I'm just finishing the third series of that, and sadly that's done now, but I've just, it's such a tonic.
27:07
It's so funny, very silly.
27:12
And I also did Sharon Horgan's new comedy, Youth, earlier this year, and you just have a ball.
27:19
Like, it's designed to be funny, and it's designed to make you laugh, and it does, and there's something really...
27:27
light about it.
27:29
And showing up to work and getting paid to kind of be silly is just a dream come true.
27:33
And I love it.
27:34
Yeah.
27:35
I mean, speaking of stuff that you've done that is, you know, comedic.
27:38
I mean, like the first thing I would have seen you in, I think, would have been Misfits.
27:40
You know, where you play Jess.
27:42
Yeah.
27:42
Whose power is, you know, her exo-vision.
27:44
She can see through people's bullshit.
27:45
Yeah.
27:46
I mean, that on paper just is funny.
27:49
Yeah.
27:49
I mean, you know, as a fan, like I did want to ask, like, how, what are your memories of working on Misfits now?
27:55
And like, how did you, were you excited to get that one?
27:57
Simplily, really.
28:00
from my memory Jess was more of kind of the straight man and kind of rolling her eyes at everyone else's antics uh which is very different to what I'm doing am I being unreasonable now but again I just remember laughing every single day and not being able to there was not one day in the couple of years that I did that that we
28:23
that we got through a tape without, we couldn't, you know, someone would corpse.
28:27
It was, it was so funny.
28:31
And I was working with my friends, which was great.
28:36
We got on so well.
28:37
Um,
28:38
I loved it.
28:39
And I'd been such a fan of the show before I went on it.
28:43
And I remember watching it because I think it came out very shortly after I'd graduated from drama school, which was around 2009 and sitting and watching it with friends and going, that's the sort of thing that I want to do.
28:58
I wish I could be in something like that.
29:00
And then, you know, lo and behold, I was.
29:05
Yeah.
29:05
So...
29:07
Yeah, it was a dream come true doing that.
29:10
Because I want to say you went up originally.
29:12
Didn't you audition for a part in season two of the show?
29:14
I did.
29:15
Yeah.
29:15
I did.
29:16
I auditioned for Ruth Negger's part.
29:18
Oh, yeah.
29:19
Yeah.
29:19
Do you remember?
29:20
Yeah.
29:20
Yeah.
29:21
Yeah.
29:21
That's big.
29:22
Yeah.
29:22
Yeah.
29:23
And you've just, I forgot about that.
29:27
But I think if you have an audience of actors, aspiring actors, jobbing actors, especially young actors coming up, it's just a reminder that just because you don't get the gig, it doesn't mean people aren't watching, you know, and it will come back around for you.
29:46
Your job is not always to get the job.
29:48
It's to...
29:49
impress the right people and it will come back around and that's happened for me a few times actually sometimes it's just not right for you but what's for you won't go by you and uh yeah opportunities will come back if you if you make the right impression
30:04
And you're planting a seed.
30:06
Exactly.
30:06
Which will, you know, blossom later down the line.
30:09
Yeah.
30:09
And then, I mean, because as you say, it sounds like so much, I mean, because the show has had such a sort of impact and it's still beloved.
30:17
I mean, like, you know, people still, you know, love the show and watch it back.
30:19
It's become a real, it still is a cult success.
30:21
I think it's certainly in the UK.
30:23
And like when you came on, you were joining that family of like, you know, there was still some of the older lineup was there, like, you know, Curtis, Nathan Stewart, Jared and Joe Gilgan, of course, Rudy, who was hilarious.
30:32
And you were joining with like Nathan McMullen.
30:34
You guys were the new guys.
30:35
I mean, were you intimidated being a fan as well coming onto that show?
30:40
I think you feel an obligation to kind of fill some big shoes, I guess.
30:48
But I don't remember ever being made to fill by anyone who,
30:53
that I had to be what anybody was before, that we were going to make this fresh and new and we could do our own things with it and whatever.
31:02
And everybody just made us feel so welcome.
31:05
We loved it.
31:06
And Nathan and I are still really close, really good friends.
31:11
I'm seeing him this week, next week.
31:15
Yeah, so it's great, you know, lifelong friends from it.
31:20
I loved it, yeah.
31:21
Yeah.
31:22
And because, because you're working with some incredibly, not only talented actors, but incredibly funny.
31:26
Yeah.
31:27
Like Joe Gilgun, I think maybe being one of the key examples, you know, your character, Jess and his character, Rudy have a kind of, I guess, spoiler alert for a 13 year old show, but they, there is a, there's a, there's a relationship that develops over two seasons.
31:38
I mean, what was Joe like to work with specifically?
31:40
Cause I mean, every time I watch it back, he's so funny and he's so alive.
31:44
Completely.
31:46
My memory of working with Joe was that he was completely instinctive and he
31:52
every single time and um I think although I loved my time at drama school um
32:01
quite rightly, you're constantly reminded that there's so little work, you're lucky to be in it, you know, someone's waiting to jump in as soon as you, like, have a day off or whatever, so you do, you can turn up, like, this little ball of nerves, and I really had to unlearn...
32:25
this kind of buttoned up good girl approach to acting, which was like, I'm going to do all my work and I'm going to come in and I'm going to do it like this.
32:33
And I'm going to listen to what the director says, because he's, he is such a playful, instinctive actor and he follows his instincts.
32:41
And one take, it might be like this and another take, it might be completely like that.
32:45
And I learned from him that that's okay.
32:48
And that it works and that,
32:51
it's directors good directors will like that they'll like you making offers and even if it doesn't work because it makes the work so much more exciting so I think working with people like joe definitely made me more playful yeah
33:07
It sounds like that was kind of a, quite a common atmosphere on that set.
33:10
Because actually a few months ago we had Robert Sheehan on.
33:13
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
33:13
He had to play Nathan for the first two seasons.
33:15
And he was talking about how, when he was making that show, it sounds like you guys were given the freedom to like fuck around.
33:20
Yes.
33:20
And mess about and wander off.
33:22
Like take the piss.
33:23
This is all he said.
33:23
Like, you know, there was freedom.
33:25
Yeah.
33:25
It wasn't just this prescribed, like, right, let's be professional.
33:27
Yeah, yeah.
33:28
Is what he said.
33:28
It wasn't like that at all.
33:30
And I also think the jobs that I've done where I've done my best work is ones where the script is more of a guide.
33:38
And there's some things that you have to hit to make sense, but the occasional sort of ad lib or unexpected addition into a scene can really lift it and giving actors the space and freedom to do it without feeling sort of embarrassed or like they've done something wrong.
33:57
I mean, some people might think it's risky, but I think it's more of a risk to make it boring.
34:02
Yeah.
34:02
Yeah.
34:03
Do you have a favourite memory of making that show or maybe a favourite episode, a favourite moment or a bit of scene that you did that you were like, oh, that's when you think back at it.
34:11
That's kind of like your brightest spark.
34:13
Gosh, like I did like...
34:16
I did like the moments where Jess used her x-ray vision because we worked out how that was, how I would do that.
34:24
And it was basically like looking into a light, right, where you stare at something and you don't, you know, you don't blink.
34:31
And I don't, I'm not sure that was ever fully captured in the final product, but that was, um...
34:38
that was nice to be something that I was a part of creating that was so small, but felt specific to me, if you know what I mean.
34:45
Um, so that was nice.
34:47
Yeah.
34:48
But you know, it's, I'm struggling to remember because it, it feels like a long time ago now, you know?
34:54
Yeah.
34:55
Well, it was quite a long time ago.
34:56
Yeah.
34:56
Yeah.
34:57
So what, I was maybe 24 then.
34:59
I'm 38 now.
35:01
Yeah.
35:02
Wow.
35:02
Feels like two weeks ago, right?
35:05
For sure.
35:05
Yeah.
35:06
For sure.
35:06
Yeah.
35:06
Yeah.
35:07
Yeah.
35:07
Wow.
35:08
I mean, it's funny because when we had Robert on the pod, as I say, you know, he played Nathan in the first two seasons.
35:13
And he was talking about how I asked him about his relationship with the show and his memories of making it similarly to that.
35:19
And he was talking about how after he left, which I think amongst the fan base was quite a big deal.
35:24
Yeah.
35:24
And he was talking about how when he left the writing, he was sharing his views on the writing of the show.
35:29
Yeah.
35:29
Yeah.
35:30
And how maybe after a certain point to him.
35:32
it had maybe gone a little bit pastiche-y, it changed.
35:34
It became more sort of heightened, more genre.
35:36
When he was in it or after he'd left.
35:38
After he left.
35:39
He was just sort of saying that maybe to him, like the writing had changed somewhat and then it became, the word he used was a bit pastiche-y.
35:45
Yeah.
35:46
And I was wondering if you had any thoughts on that, being that you obviously made the show as well.
35:49
Yeah, it's a good question.
35:56
I think that...
36:02
I think that the show was very, very popular, and they wanted to capitalise on that and make it last.
36:12
I think there was this very special alchemy with that first group of people.
36:16
And...
36:19
it may be true that sometimes like once you've hit on gold, you can't kind of recreate it in some sense.
36:26
I don't know.
36:26
I mean, I'd have to go back and rewatch it with my older sort of more mature eyes because I don't, I can't really comment on that now with my memory of it and I haven't watched it in some time.
36:38
And I think when I came to it, my focus was on being a good actor, not pissing people off and doing a good job.
36:48
I think now having done more writing, having been on the other side of the camera a bit more, having done more work as an actor, I may view it differently.
37:01
But, you know, at the time, my priority was working and having a lovely time.
37:08
Yeah.
37:08
So, yeah, when you're in something, it's hard to be objective about it.
37:14
And also...
37:17
I'm a firm believer that if you take on a job, you have to back it.
37:22
Because people who, actors who take on work and then criticize it during the process are just horrible to work with.
37:31
And there's a 90% unemployment rate in our industry.
37:37
So when you are employed, I feel like it's just good practice.
37:42
even if it's not entirely to your taste, to look for the good in what you're working on.
37:50
And...
37:51
bring a good attitude to it.
37:53
Yeah.
37:54
For sure.
37:54
I remember that reminds me of when, I mean, this is a completely off the beaten track, but when Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull was coming out, like I say completely off the beaten track here, but like Shia LaBeouf was on the press off that.
38:06
And slightly controversially was sort of talking about some of the issues he had with the film.
38:10
Yeah.
38:10
Which I think Spielberg kind of maybe had a word with him afterwards, like,
38:13
look we're uh we're selling the film yeah so i mean that was different i mean that was like selling and he was involved in at the time i was thinking with robert yeah it was different it was you know it was after he'd left but yeah it's uh it sounds like that's a this is the industry is so political and like you know you and it's good you have to represent what your the work you've done yeah you don't you don't have to love everything you do and it doesn't always have to align with
38:38
a lot of people would have done a lot of fucking hard work to get it to the line.
38:43
And I just think it's just good manners, you know?
38:49
And if you really hate something, if you're smart, you can find a way to speak positively about it.
38:55
If you're not very smart, then you can't.
38:59
Yeah.
38:59
And then, and touching on the end of the show then, because again, spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't seen the end of the show, but the show ends with this sort of quite iconic shot of like Jess, your character, and the other community service workers, you know, on the roof.
39:13
Yeah.
39:13
And they sort of vow at that point to become superheroes.
39:16
Yeah.
39:16
Right, let's, let's start dicking about.
39:18
Let's do this.
39:19
Yeah.
39:19
And then, you know, after those credits roll, I guess people like fans of the show wonder like, you know, what happens next?
39:25
yeah yeah do you have any thoughts about that like what happens next suggesting you was after that those credits roll and the show ended
39:31
gosh, I've never really thought about it.
39:33
What do you think?
39:33
I don't know.
39:34
I mean, the idea of them being like, it's not the jumper.
39:36
Goodies.
39:37
Goodies.
39:37
Not the jumper posse.
39:38
That's the guys that are fighting that last episode, isn't it?
39:40
But like being superheroes.
39:41
I mean, I just go back to that line.
39:43
I think Finn has that line.
39:44
Nathan has that line where he's like, you know, you lot, you know, superheroes.
39:47
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
39:48
That's what I always loved about it.
39:49
It was like, yeah, these guys.
39:50
Yeah.
39:51
But I think, I don't know, I think there's maybe, I like the idea that maybe there is something there that they do learn.
39:57
It's a sweet ending, isn't it?
39:59
Yeah, it's sweet.
40:00
Yeah, yeah.
40:00
And there was sweetness in the show as much as there was, you know, the humour and the wildness and the darkness.
40:06
It had such a great alchemy, as you say, of, like, tones as well as people.
40:09
Yeah.
40:10
And I think, like, yeah, I feel like, I like to think there's, you know, it kind of ends happily.
40:13
Yeah.
40:14
But, I mean, it's misfits, you know, it rarely is that simple.
40:16
Yeah, I don't know.
40:17
It would be interesting to catch up with them now, wouldn't it?
40:20
Yeah.
40:20
That would be quite fun.
40:21
Like, what have happened to, like, lads kind of thing?
40:23
Yeah.
40:23
Like, what have happened to these guys?
40:24
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
40:24
Getting all back together, you know?
40:25
I mean, would you ever, I mean, if people ever come knocking, it's like, oh, would you ever go back and do something like that?
40:30
Would you ever go back?
40:31
Or do you think it's something that you're kind of like, it's in the past, it's done?
40:34
I'd be totally open to that idea.
40:36
I don't, I'm not, I don't, I mean, I might have got this wrong.
40:42
I don't think anyone's, like, chomping at the bit to know what happened to Jess.
40:45
LAUGHTER
40:47
I think there's other characters that kind of were more impactful that people might be more interested in.
40:52
But I would never say never about anything.
40:55
Yeah.
40:56
So when it comes to the work you've done, be like the writer or an actor, like it's it's in the past and it's done.
41:00
Yeah.
41:01
Yeah.
41:02
But you, you know, you're open to doors not closed.
41:04
Always.
41:05
Yeah.
41:05
Yeah.
41:06
Is that just a general approach you have to your attitude to what you do?
41:10
Absolutely.
41:10
Yeah.
41:11
And what kind of work do you think of the work that you've done?
41:13
Because she likes that you've done so much.
41:14
Like, what do you think you're proudest of both as an actor and as a writer?
41:19
So there was a play I did at the Royal Court called Linda, which I'm a character I just adored.
41:25
She was so complex and layered and vulnerable and...
41:30
was my honour and pleasure to play her.
41:34
And on TV, in my early 20s, I did a single drama for the BBC called Murder, which, again, was similarly like a very...
41:48
a person who was very far away from myself in terms of her character, a lot of issues, very violent, sort of a compulsive liar.
41:59
And it was such a treat and a gift of a part.
42:05
And I don't think I've got to tackle anything like that since.
42:08
And I was so proud of it.
42:10
You know, I know a lot of actors don't watch themselves back, but I just have to.
42:15
I have to because I've worked on it for so long.
42:18
I want to see what it's like, you know, baking a cake and not getting to eat it.
42:21
I just can't really get my head around it.
42:24
And also the more I watch of myself, the more comfortable I am with seeing my own image and hearing my own voice.
42:29
And I don't mind it, you know.
42:31
And I like to learn and think, oh, well...
42:33
next time I'd do it like that.
42:35
But also by the time things get to the screen, my vanity has kind of ebbed away a little bit and I'm focused on the next thing so I can appreciate it for what it is.
42:45
You can be a bit more objective.
42:47
Yeah.
42:47
Yeah.
42:48
And as a writer, what do you think is the work you're most proud of?
42:52
I'm really proud we got Possession away and Greenlit and to the line.
42:59
I stopped counting the amount of drafts I did
43:03
of episode one when I hit my own age.
43:07
So I'm proud that we got it made.
43:11
I am still far too close to it to be objective about it.
43:16
Um, and I'm proud of the people that I work with and my friends and their sort of amazing talent.
43:24
Um, I've just written on an episode of Anya Reese's BBC drama called reputation.
43:30
And, um,
43:32
There was something, there was kind of a wit and a zigginess in the writing of that that I've not really done before and I really enjoy doing that.
43:40
It was a bit more kind of.
43:43
It's very much a straight drama, but there was kind of a bit of an edge and a cheekiness to it that I really enjoyed.
43:47
Yeah.
43:48
I like that.
43:49
I like being challenged somewhat.
43:51
Yeah.
43:51
Brilliant.
43:52
Well, hey, this has been an absolute blast, Carla.
43:54
Oh my gosh, brilliant.
43:55
Thank you so much.
43:55
No worries chatting about the show.
43:56
I mean, when can people expect possession to, when can they expect to watch it?
44:00
So I believe that all episodes are out on the 6th of August on Sky Atlantic or NOW TV.
44:07
Brill.
44:07
Brill.
44:08
Great.
44:08
Well, hey, you know, can't wait to see it.
44:09
I mean, I've done the first two.
44:10
I need to do the remaining three.
44:13
So yeah, but no, thanks so much for coming on, Carla.
44:15
It's such a pleasure.
44:16
Oh, thank you for having me.
44:17
It's brilliant.
44:18
Thank you.