Page 12 - 17_Bafta ACADEMY_Sam Mendes_ok

Photos l-r: The cast of C4’s Spaced; Jessica Stevenson (photo: Ben Blackall); in Avenging Angels and below Tomorrow La Scala!
10
“The best actors are the people who are able to create characters.”
film for BBC2 which had a great reception at Cannes, was recent- ly pulled from the Edinburgh Film Festival due to an issue with the Sondheim score.
JS: Yeah, it was awful for everyone. I’m not sure what will happen. I know how hard we all worked. I know I really trusted Francesca [Joseph, the director]. What I didn’t know was how well it’d be received in Cannes. You think, oh, it’s in the Certain Regard section – they quite like it presumably. But there was such an overwhelming response. I was so proud to have been involved with it.
Q: The film wasn’t scripted at all, was it? Completely improvised.
JS: The structure of the scenes was laid out but not scripted. We devised the script during the rehearsals. We would improvise and write the words down. We’d bring that to the day of filming and loosely use it. Sometimes we wrote extra scenes while filming. It was an amazing challenge. For me, it was brilliant because it was acting and writing simulta- neously. In the end, we all looked a bit like De Niro and that’s basically thanks to Francesca. She created this world and we all just lived in it.
Q: On a lighter note, your next project is a new feature film, Double Au Pair. Back to the nanny role then?
JS: I’m just about to go into my wilderness years. This is it – tragic obscurity! I’m working on
the first draft now with this very enthusiastic producer, Chris Godsick, who saw Spaced and loved it.
Q: Is it destined for a kids audience ?
JS: Yes. I pitched a few ideas to him, one of them involving spy mice – he didn’t go for that – but then we discussed it further and I came up with an idea that he did like. I’m just working on it now. Time is an issue...
Q: Have you put other proj- ects aside?
JS: Yes, I’ve put everything aside. Then life kind of takes over and you think, oh god, I need to be doing more. I should be writing more, faster. But I’m really excited about doing something light- hearted and writing on my own. Q: Tell me about Avenging Angels.
JS: It’s written by Kirstie Falkous, who was brought in by a producer at Granada. It’s obser- vational, light comedy that then turns into something slightly more sinister, more caper, more adven- ture. It was really good fun.
Q: The writer/actress combina- tion is somewhat rare. We’ve got Caroline Aherne in the UK and, in America, comediennes Ellen de Generes or Rosanne. Does it lend more gravity to what you’re
doing as an artist?
JS: Not gravity exactly, but bal- ance. Acting is incredibly disci- plined and rigorous but writing is very exacting. Acting is more chaotic. It’s instinctive and very
emotional. Whenever you do an acting job, especially if it’s partic- ularly demanding, you’re using your body’s fight/flight mecha- nisms, abusing them basically. It can be quite draining, emotional- ly and physically. I love it but it’s great to balance with another creative pursuit that’s utterly dif- ferent. And much more calm. It’s like that kind of balance between extrovert and introvert.
Q: It’s been a good year for you.
JS: Yes, but I’ve still got a long way to go. One of the things I’ve always liked is being really honest and truthful. That seems to be painfully...a goal for me. As a writer that’s something I could develop. Perhaps it’s quite lofty but it’s always good to be think- ing you might be going some- where else or better or more truthful. I definitely don’t feel I’m there yet. I just have to keep practising [laughs].
BBC2’s experimental TV drama Tomorrow La Scala! and Granada’s Avenging Angels will air in the coming months.