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interview
bright young thing
“I think that there’s something terribly reassuring about working with a writer- director because, weirdly enough, they are much more open minded.”
Finding a challenging role is one thing, having it occur in a memorable film is quite another. But Emily Mortimer can justifiably claim to have achieved both aims in Young Adam. Her poignant portrayal of the doomed Cathie roots the some- times sordid 50s-set drama in very real human emotion.
As lover and muse to would- be writer Joe (Ewan McGregor), Cathie bears the brunt of his pro- fessional frustration, a festering anger that explodes in one shocking moment that Mortimer good-naturedly describes as “that bloody custard scene.”
The sexual frankness of the film, and the emotionally ambivalent behaviour of its tainted hero, might be easily dismissed if the perform- ances within David Mackenzie’s impressive film fell below the stan- dard that McGregor, Mortimer and co-stars Peter Mullan and Tilda Swinton deliver.
For her part Emily Mortimer knew that this was a must-do script upon first reading it.
“It’s so rare that you read a script where the questions it poses continue to resonate for a long time afterwards,” she explains. “I found that I just keep on thinking about it.
“It’s very dangerous and edgy because the script oscillates between the cold intellectual game that Joe is playing and his romantic quest, a genuine longing for a con- nection that never happens.
The actress faced the chal- lenge of the film’s most unforget- table scene with typical determi- nation and good humour.
“It’s totally irresponsible if a gratuitous sex scene comes three-quarters of the way through a film just to wake the audience up,” she states.
“That’s really cynical, but in this film, the sex is much more honest. It’s just part of how Joe
works and it’s completely organ- ic. It’s not designed to create a libidinous reaction in the audi- ence; it’s showing that for him sex is like a drug. After all, this is a book about addiction.”
And while Mortimer recognises that audiences will be unaccus- tomed to seeing Ewan McGregor playing a character who is so unworthy of their sympathy or respect, she feels he is well cast all the same.
“Ewan is the perfect choice because if anyone can bring out the angst and charm and depth of the guy, it’s him. The film totally relies on Ewan being able to draw the audience in. By rights, they shouldn’t like Joe, but as Ewan plays him they will find him fascinating and unable to resist.”
As her own career has taken off it seems that casting directors have been increasingly unable to resist Oxford-educated Emily Mortimer too.
Emily Mortimer, co-star of Young Adam, the Edinburgh Film Festival opener, talks to Anwar Brett about her new roles
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Photo above: Emily Mortimer (photo: Basil Pao) and opposite page in Bright Young Things and Young Adam