November 27, 2023 • 35 mins
Lee welcomes Carly-Sophia Davies to talk about her unforgettable apperance in Joanna Hogg's The Eternal Daughter.
Carly-Sophia talks us through her career so far, takes us behind the scenes on shooting in an old Welsh hotel during lockdown for The Eternal Daughter, working with Joanna Hogg, acting alongside Tilda Swinton who performed two different roles, and much more!
Carly-Sophia talks us through her career so far, takes us behind the scenes on shooting in an old Welsh hotel during lockdown for The Eternal Daughter, working with Joanna Hogg, acting alongside Tilda Swinton who performed two different roles, and much more!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
Welcome to the NED Party. Hello, and welcome to the twenty four project.
Here in the Nerd Party Network,my name is Lee Hutchinson and Dallas
King and I make our way throughthe A twenty four filmography and along the
way bring you interviews with the talentinvolved in front of and behind the camera.
(00:24):
Now the sag strike is over,we can start to bring you interviews
again, and today we welcome CarlySophia Davies to talk about our unforgettable appearance
as Angela and Johanna Hogg's PostScript tothe souvenir films The Eternal Daughter, starring
Tilda Swinton in a dual role asdaughter and mother who visit a large and
mysterious hotel in Wales to work throughsome of their family baggage, but unfortunately
(00:47):
for them, they come into contactwith Davies's character as a receptionist for the
building who has a very specific wayof dealing with her customers. Thanks so
much to Carly Sophia for joining me, and I hope you too will enjoy
this interview. What inspired you topursue a career in acting. I initially
(01:10):
really liked singing. None of myparents actually have creative careers, but they're
both really creative in their own way. My dad sung and played the guitar
a lot, and my mum's reallyin drawing an interior design. But my
dad's an actual scaffold or my mum'sa secretary, so they don't do it
for a living. So I thinkthe singing was something I was really interested
in from the get go. Andthen I auditioned for a school play when
(01:32):
I was about fourteen fifteen, andit was the first time I sung in
front of anybody on my own,and it was Peter Pan and I got
fast as Peter Pan and it sortof started from there. And then I
didn't think it was going to bea career choice because I was quite interested
in sort of something academic, andmy teachers kind of wanted me to do
(01:53):
that when I was at school.And then when I went to college,
I the day before I was supposedto start the A levels that I was
going to do. Something in theback of my brain was like, oh,
the A block, it's called theA block where the arts block was
in the college, and I waslike, it looks I wonder what it
would be like to do a performingarts course. And then I just as
(02:13):
a last minute thing, I justcompletely changed and decided to do a B
tech in performing arts. And acouple of my teachers like, what are
you doing? What are you doing? You know, you know there's sort
of no safety in that, andI thought, well, I can always
come back, and then it sortof started from there. I did that,
and then I auditioned for drama schooljust just I thought why not,
(02:34):
I'll give it a go, andthen I got in and I moved to
London at eighteen, and it alsostarted from there. Really that's incredible,
And as you're first ever guest fromWales after nearly two hundred episodes, we
finally have Welsh representation on the show. Yay. What's the industry like in
Wales? Like, as you mentionedyou've gone to London, is there much
(02:55):
of an industry in Wales? Ithink for many of us in the UK
we think of Whales, we thinkof Doctor Who, But what's maybe that
wider industry like in Wales. Ithink it's definitely changing. I think even
even three years ago it was different. So I think I know sort of
(03:15):
ten fifteen years back, I wasn'tdoing it then, but I know that
there wasn't as many Welsh TV seriesbeing made. Welsh plays wealth work.
For me, what I always feltlike stayed more in Wales. And when
I sort of graduated, I reallywanted Welsh work to sort of come out
(03:35):
of Wales, not just stay inWales. There's nothing wrong with, you
know, with it just staying inWhales, but I wanted to sort of
come out of Wales because I wantedWales to sort of have its moment.
And I would say, now,actually there's a lot being made TV series,
really interesting stuff at the moment.That is, there's a lot of
focus on Wales and its stories andit's changing. I would like there to
(03:58):
be more, and I would likethem to be more. I often find
sometimes when it is when there areWelsh stories, it's a little bit more,
not always stereotypical. I'd like thereto be more specificity when dealing with
Welsh stories. And also why youknow, sometimes I watch a TV series,
(04:20):
why can't there be a Welsh personin there? Or I imagine you
feel like that with with Scotland aswell, Why can't why why can't that
character be Welsh? Why can't thatcharacter be this? And I think it
is changing so long winded answer toyour question, but I think the Welsh
industry is thriving at the moment andthere's some really cool stuff being made.
(04:40):
But for me, I felt likeI had to move to London for particularly
theater, even though there's some greattheaters and Whales, I just felt like
I wanted to be around the hubof it. But I think now with
self tapes and everything, you candefinitely be be in Whales and do majority
Welsh work that that'd be full.You obviously recently started in The Eternal Daughter.
(05:06):
How did that kind of roll comearound? Because it really landed at
a very interesting time for the productionof that film. So I had it
through my agent. It wasn't likea stereotypical audition process where you get a
scene. It was a conversation overzoom. It was four questions about if
(05:27):
I'd had any experience in the hospitalityindustry, which I had growing up,
and then it was sort of ifI was interested or had I had any
paranormal experiences and what was my sortof experience with movement, And then it
was I recorded it, sent itoff and then I think two weeks later
(05:48):
I met with juannover zoom and wespoke for over an hour and she was
just brilliant, transparent, really smart, warm, and we really connected.
And then I found out two dayslater that I that I that I got
the job, which was mad becausea week later I was on the set
(06:08):
filming. Yeah, when you getthose type of questions, what does your
mind kind of go to of,like, let's say, experience the paranormal
one? Do you think I've justled a sort of normal life. I've
never seen a ghost or a specteror something. Or do you think do
I need to sort of embellish anexperience I had? How do you kind
of approach something like that? Doyou think of do you over thinking think
(06:30):
it could be a test, orhow do you go about it? It's
a really good question. I actuallydidn't plan the questions because I did a
little sneaky peek online when I wasauditioning, and I saw that Johanna's films
were really improvised, mostly improvised,and I thought that for one, for
me the questions, I would answerthem more truthfully and authentically if I didn't
(06:55):
have time for my brain to plan, and with the paranormal question, I
haven't. I didn't have any paranormalexperiences until literally it was very odd.
A sort of month before that auditionhappened, and I had a really weird
experience when I was cooking in thekitchen and I felt like someone was and
(07:16):
someone my boyfriend's recently lost a familymember that had was cooking a lot,
and I had a really weird experiencewhilst I was cooking in the kitchen.
So I actually felt like I hadsomething to speak about. But yeah,
I think if I hadn't, Imaybe would have just said I've not had
any paranormal experiences. I don't knowif I would have got the job then,
but yeah, And how familiar areyou with with Joanna Hogg? I'd
(07:42):
seen the Souvenir and I loved seeingthat, but I hadn't seen a lot
of her previous work. I've seenit now since working with her, but
I was familiar, but not tosort of. I hadn't seen everything.
But yeah, the film was obviouslylike a kind of PostScript to the Souvenir
movies, which was such a surpriseto me when I was watching the films
(08:03):
for the first time. Obviously you'dwatched it beforehand. Was it something like
that? You're watching it, Oh, it's going to be very much like
this, or were you quite surprisedat the turn they took with the Eternal
Daughter? So I actually didn't knowwhat I was in until I watched the
film at Venice Film last year,because Johanna does a story document and she
(08:24):
showed that story document to Tilda andnot to myself. Intentionally, she chooses
who she's working with and what toshow them and what not to show them
because it sort of will help theircreative process, and I didn't see it,
so I didn't know. All Isaw I was Tilda walking around in
a one moment looking like Tilda,and then the next moment looking like Tilda,
plus twenty years and half the timeI was talking to an empty chair,
(08:46):
and half the time I wasn't.So I just thought, Okay,
well there's a mother and daughter relationshipgoing on here, But other than that,
I didn't really know the specifics ofit. So I've seen the film
three times now, and now howI feel like I saw it yesterday?
Actually, I took my friends togo and watch it, and it was
the first time I felt like I'veseen it objectively and that I can actually
(09:07):
see it as a film, andI'm starting to really sort of it's really
starting to make a lot of senseto me. And since I'm going,
okay, and this means this,and I'm still still sitting with me now
and only now can I have thatexperience, because before I just I just
couldn't because I was it was toooble seeing it. I've always been fascinated
by that. We had some guestsso before that worked on the souvenir,
(09:30):
and it would be like this persongets a script, this doesn't. And
I've always wondered what it must belike for someone like yourself, of like
how do I prepare for tomorrow's scenesor what approach do I take? And
you know, some people like knowingnothing that's going on outside of the scene.
Some how does that sort of sitwith with you? I really like
it. I think it's a reallyorganic way of and truthful way of working
(09:56):
in your because you're navigating in lifelike I don't almost know what question you're
going to ask me, right,So it's the same the same thing whilst
working, and there's a kind ofliveness and you're being very instinctive and playful,
and I don't think scripts are great, but I don't think you can
get that in the same in thesame way. I really, I really
(10:16):
liked it. Don't get me wrong. Because Joanna shoots chronologically. The first
scene that we did, and itwas my first time being on a set
as well, that was a bitof a oh oh, here we go,
here we go, like it's likejumping off a cliff moment. But
yeah, I really enjoyed it.And was it quite nervous or a really
rare and exciting opportunity to improvise somuch we think of it so much of
(10:39):
like that's comedy films and TV asopposed to something quite unique like this.
To get that kind of opportunity,I really liked it. I loved getting
the chance to improvise. Yeah,I felt like I discovered lots and I
couldn't plan and it's really shaped mewith the way that I approached the script.
(11:03):
Now I try not to. There'sa fine line I think between two
like too much work and or notenough work on it, and I'm yeah,
working with Joanna has really shaped mein that way. I really loved
it. You obviously had quite atight turnaround from being cast to turning up
in Wales. For this film.How did you sort of prepare for shooting
(11:26):
this film and was there sort ofany kind of I guess anxiety at the
time because it was deep in kindof COVID lockdown that you were shooting this
film. Was there any worries orwas this just like, I'm so excited
to be working again. I thinkat that point, I unfortunately had COVID
twice, so I was hopeful thatit wouldn't come for me again anytime soon.
(11:52):
It was. It was stressful,not in the sense that I didn't
love every moment of it. Itwas stressful, but I didn't want to
give anybody else COVID, And ifyou know, there was definitely an anxiety
about because we were all sort ofclose together. Even though we were wearing
the masks and things like that andtrying to be cautious and sanitizing our hands.
There was definitely an anxiety that ifI did get COVID, or if
(12:15):
anybody got COVID, the entire productionwould have to shut down. So I
was excited, but I also feltlike I didn't get the full on set
experience because my first time on aset was working under such strict COVID protocols,
but yeah, I did. Overall, I still, of course loved
it and had a ball. Ilike to think in my head that you's
(12:37):
all got to stay in that hotel, just in your own separate rooms.
Where did you just kind of wherewere you use based while you were kind
of shooting it? So Joanna wasstaying in the hotel, yeah, yeah,
which it was a very creepy place. I was staying about about five
ten minutes away in a cottage inthe middle of where, which was quite
(13:01):
a terrifying experience in and of itself. And I think the second ad was
staying in her caravan outside the house. People were d dotted all over until
there was just around the corner,I think, about ten minutes away,
and a lot of the crew didstay in the house. They because it
was such a massive house, theyall stayed there. But I'm very grateful
(13:22):
not to have stayed there, becauseI did find it incredibly incredibly intimidating,
creepy And what was that kind ofhotel like to turn up and work in?
Did it sort of help influence yourperformance in the atmosphere as well as
we saw in the film, Ithink probably subconsciously. Yeah, I think
(13:45):
I think we're all affected by,like, as Joanna says, rooms and
buildings and spaces that we occupy ona level I think that we don't really
sometimes take in. But yeah,I think the building definitely made me feel
a certain way. I can't reallyarticulate what it made me feel. It
made me feel unsettled, but Ialso think there was a kind of the
(14:11):
building had such character and it wasreally old, and that kind of it
did definitely do something to me,not consciously but unconsciously. Probably. Yeah,
in your role as Angela there Sept, you bring a real comedic element
to this very tense, dramatic,quite uncomfortable film to watch at times.
(14:31):
Can you kind of talk to playingthis type of role in a really quite
tough going dramat points. Yeah,the ship was actually incredibly light even all
the film's quite emotional and dark anduncomfortable, So it was very light and
I yeah, I just sort ofdrew on experiences of watching other people that
(14:56):
I worked with in hospitality industries growingup. Yeah, I really liked it.
Actually, it sort of felt atthe time. I didn't know I
was playing a comedic grole when Isaw the film and I heard people laughing.
I really thought I really wasn't.I didn't think I was being you
know, funny, I was beingtotally serious. But it's great that people
(15:18):
have found humor in it. Itfeels like such a really kind of that
British type of character, lots oflike passive aggressiveness, a little bit of
pettiness quite yeah, And it's almostthat type of kind of character like gens
like that kind of those boomers thatkind of till the Swinton are playing with
Lucan and think that's what gen Zare exactly like. It's just there's so
(15:41):
many kind of that little touches ofsort of quite hostile body language. It's
it reminded me of when I workedin like retail as a student, of
like you're helping but not really becauseyou don't really want to, and just
you were looking at your computer screenwhere you're like, oh, just looking
at like Instagram or something like that. Like such a fascinating kind of character
(16:06):
to build. It feels very fullyrealized. Ah, thank you. Yeah.
I think Joanna kind of gave me. Joanna gave me lots of little
things, you know, but itwas also really freeing at the same time.
It would be she would speak aboutyou know, her passive aggressive interactions
(16:26):
or witnessing I think family members,interactions with people in the hospitality industry.
And then with It's interesting because Ididn't know too much about the character.
It was sort of left really open, which I loved. But then when
makeup did my makeup and I sawmy costume, I kind of felt a
certain way, which then influenced howI played it. With the nails on,
(16:48):
with the mirror, with the Instagram, it all sort of made me
feel a certain way, which Ithen think helped influence where I sort of
went with it. Yeah, yeah, all those little things were I wish
I could take credit, but thelot the makeup and the costume and the
(17:11):
way that that was designed all helpedfrom the brilliant costume and designers and they
all. It's a real collaboration,is the more I'm realizing as well,
Like you can sort of bring yourbit and then when everybody else brings there,
but it sort of helps you aswell sort of go further down the
line. How does hog kind ofwork with you as as an actor?
Obviously you get a lot of freedomand a lot of space, which must
(17:32):
be quite exciting for such a youngactor. Like, what is she like
in sort of a day to daykind of environment with with you. I
she's the kindest, warmest, mostsensitive human being. I think she has
such a sensitivity. It's like Ialmost think of it as like an antenna
or whatever you call it, Likehers, her frequency is turned up her
(17:56):
she operates on another and another frequentand see, she's amazing. She's one
of the most interesting, kind sensesensitive people I've ever met. And it
was a real joy to work withher. Whenever I see her now,
it's like, Yeah, there's suchwarmth and fondness. I think she's fantastic.
(18:18):
Yeah, it's quite interesting when youlook at her sort of filmography,
like she really seems to have quitean eye for young talent as well and
really nurturing them, see that,particularly like the souvenir films, even young
till Tom Tom Hiddleston when she workedwith him, has she got a real
kind of way with with younger people. I think she's just she's that sensitivity,
(18:42):
and I think you can't help butwarm to her. And there's an
incredible amount of trust I feel fromher in you and in you from her
because it's improvising the way it's shot, and you're completely all everybody's in the
dark, sort of trying to sortof find where they're going. You can't
help it, but be there foreach other and trust each other. And
(19:02):
I think it's interesting that you saidthat, because I think she's one of
those directors that gives unknown talent ashot. Actually, she's more interested in
something that isn't perfect, and youknow, not saying that being sort of
polished and clean and perfect whatever isbad, but she's sort of interested in
(19:22):
something that's very human. And she'snot looking at, you know, who
to get in. She's looking atwho's right for it and who brings what
she needs to the film. AndI think that's what makes her different to
a lot of people. I thinkshe's, yeah, she completely follows her
gut. I think she's like adog with a bone when it comes to
knowing what she wants in the bestway. You alsously got to act opposite
(19:45):
till the Swinton playing two different rolesJulie and her mother Rosland. Can you
kind of break down how these sceneswere technically constructed. I was I didn't
really know a lot what was goingon, and certain scenes to Tilda was
(20:07):
Tilda as we know her, andthen certain scenes she would be in prosthetic
makeup. So it would be Iwould usually do a scene, say the
scenes in the dining room, forinstance, I would do the scene with
Tilda young Tilda, and then therewould be a couple of hours where Tilda
(20:27):
would go off and have prosthetic makeupand come back. But that I wouldn't
really be needed for that because whatwas so cleverly done was I didn't know
sometimes that older Tilda would be sittingthere, so I was only speaking to
the Tilda that was there. Butobviously narratively if people see the film,
that makes sense. So yeah,it would be sometimes talking to an empty
(20:49):
chair. And they were they weresort of like construct and trying to think
about the way that they were constructed. It would be Joanna would set it
up in the sense of killed ushaving dinner. You know, Julie's having
dinner with her mother. You're goingto come in and serve them, and
(21:11):
then I would come in and itwould literally be action. So I would
come in with the things that weregiven and put them down and then things
would just happen, and then Johannadoes this thing where she sort of refines,
she comes in and goes a littlebit further down this path, a
little bit less on that path,a little bit more of this narrative.
Could you include that bit of narrativeand less like this? Or sometimes it
was ruder, be ruder, andI thought ruder. I thought, I
(21:36):
can't be ruder. She's like,no, ruder. I was like,
okay, I'd love to see herlike giving that directions because like anyone that's
seen the film will know about yourvery focused, determined walk and just kick
off a bag and stuff. It'sone of those things you think, how
much of that is direction, howmuch of that from the actor? It
seems like a really interesting blend.Yeah. Yeah. The heels, I
(22:02):
could not walk in those heels,and they I just kind of instinctively went
with something I thought. With theuniform, it was quite cut and harsh,
and it wasn't sort of very fluid. The makeup was quite hard and
a statement makeup. The hair wasback slick, tight, so it kind
of felt like there was this sortof retrained kind of feeling to the character,
(22:26):
which made me feel a certain way. So I kind of just went
with that. What was it liketo work with with Tilda herself? What
was she like as as an actressto work alongside the most magical human on
the planet. Yeah, she's fantastic, super warm, open, supportive,
(22:48):
completely bangst off one another, justreally interested in making each scene as specific
and as truthful and as non performedas possible. And it would really be
a conversation between the three of uswhen we were together, especially Joanna and
Tilda, about each moment, andyou know, they get they get really
(23:08):
excitable together because they're so interested inwhat the moment holds and what each bit
would mean. And the same withme. It was a constant back and
forth, a playfulness and boundlessness.There was no end. It was fantastic.
She's brilliant, totally obsessed with herShe's great. One character we never
(23:30):
get to see is your boyfriend.What can you tell us about your unseen
kind of screen partner. Yeah,so I have a boyfriend that I'm kind
of it's hinted at in the filmthat there is a really kind of turbulent
and slightly toxic relationship going on thereand that I hope kind of makes people
(23:52):
understand where my characters coming from whereshe's sometimes a bit rude. That relationship
is sort of toxic, but they'veboth sort of stuck in it. Did
they have an actor playing that roleor was it just like, hey,
we're never going to see this person, get the person from the catering or
the best boy or the Grip orsomeone just chuck them in a car and
get them to go around or didthey actually have someone or properly cast.
(24:17):
So Alfie who was in the crew. His dad, Tony is one of
the key Grip guys, and Alfieworked for his dad and he had a
car that looked that I think thatwas his car if I remember rightly.
And then he came up to meone day and was like, Oh,
I'll just let you know I've beencast as your boyfriend. I was like,
(24:37):
oh, okay, so yeah itwas it was someone in the crew.
Yeah, he loved it. No, he was chaffed. He loved
it. We did some improv inthe car that wasn't included in the film,
but he loved that and he reallywent for it. He was great
to act with. Yeah, Iloved it. Am I correct that It
was like a seven week shoot?So were you there like the whole time.
(24:57):
And what was that kind of experiencelike, because, as say,
you kind of come out in andout of the film, So what was
that kind of seven weeks like asan overall experience. Yeah, I was
there for the whole time, andwhen I wasn't working, I would sort
of do lovely things around North Wales, go for walks and things. But
yeah, it was there. Itwas lovely. I was in quite a
(25:19):
bit each week, and because itwas such a small cast, it was
like going to work with my otherfamily or something. It was wonderful.
It was great to see them,and yeah, I just wish it in
a way, I look back andwish that it wasn't shot in Covid because
then we all would have been ableto have a nice drink together or go
(25:41):
for dinners together. But yeah,it was great. I was up there
for the whole time, and I'dworked up in theater Cluid i think six
months before, so I knew thearea really well. So that was it
was just nice to be back there. When did you sort of see the
film for the first and wasn't sortof that Venice Film Festival And what was
your reaction to kind of getting thefull picture at Long Last. I had
(26:06):
to sit with myself for a bitafter seeing it to because I was really
emotional and terrified at the same timeactually seeing myself on a screen and not
knowing what it would look like andwhat I would look like, and what
the film looked like and what thestory was. Just. Yeah, it
was a really anxiety walking experience,if I'm honest, but completely surreal.
(26:26):
And I also feel incredibly lucky tohave gone to Venice the first time I
was on a set. It's absolutemadness. It was an amazing experience to
be in that big, huge roomwhere so many amazing films have been screened
and so many fantastic people have satthere, and to be sitting there,
and to be in a film withtwo women that I think are fantastic and
(26:51):
Joseph as well, who plays thegroundskeeper Bill. Yeah, it was a
moment I think that I will holdon to for the rest of my human
existence. Yeah, as you mentioned, there was that surprise of seeing people
viewing your character as quite comedic andso on. How was that kind of
reaction a bit of a surprise reallyto you or was it one of those
(27:11):
ones once you saw that full pictureit was like, Oh, that makes
sense. I always like when youhear from people, they're like I thought
I was in one film and anotherperson thought they were in another, and
it just makes for such an interestingaudience experience when they're watching it. Yeah,
that's interesting that you say that,because I think that's exactly what I
felt like. I didn't know whattype I kind of knew a little bit
(27:33):
about the film, but I didn'tknow what type of film I was in,
and I feel like my character isdefinitely in a different thing to Julie.
Yeah, yeah, it was.It was nice actually two people laughing
and I hadn't. I couldn't reallyremember it because it was shot two years
prior. And then when I didyet, I thought, god, I'm
awfully rude. I don't remember beingthat rude. It was. It was
(27:57):
a very very odd experience. Yeah, I feel like I couldn't remember a
lot about it, to be honest. So I felt like, in a
way I was seeing it and processingit was fresh eyes, and it seemed
to kind of resonate because you madeit onto sort of the long list for
the BIFFA Awards for your performance.What was that like for As you say,
(28:18):
first time on a kind of filmset and you know, people recognizing
your talents so early on. Whatwas that like to find out you'd been
made that list? Madness? Myagent told me and I was walking down
the street and I just started screaming. I just thought it was absolute madness,
a really lovely moment, and yeah, it's another pinch we want,
(28:41):
to be honest, I feel verylucky and the category for that. When
I look around, I've seen someof the films and the people in that
category, and I just was honoredto be noticed, to be honest,
it was, Yeah, a reallylovely thing. Just kind of being involved
in a film like The Eternal Daughterlike help with your future career having that
on IMDb, etc. How muchdoes an impact does a film like this
(29:06):
have kind of going forward? Ithink working with Joanna is definitely gold dust
because I think she's such an artistand her films are I think almost like
paintings to me, if that makessense. So yeah, I think it's
definitely helping my career a lot,and I'm really grateful and I think it
(29:30):
also it's the type of work youwant to do, and I think working
with Joanna it's a really high endquality piece of work that she's producing.
Its real art. I feel likeI feel so privileged to have been a
part of that, and I feellike you almost get taken a bit more
seriously when you do work like that. I feel so far because of who
(29:52):
Joanna is and the type of workthat she's doing, and she's so appreciated.
So yeah, I feel very lucky. I feel like it's definitely he
my career at the moment. Yeah, it feels like the BFI have really
got behind it. It feels likeit was such a long wait for it
to finally come out here in theUK, But when you kind of think
of it, like these winter nights, it seems like the perfect time to
go in the dark to see itcome out of it And the BFI seem
(30:15):
to be really kind of pushing thefilm, which seems really exciting. We
had Joanna Hogg up here in Edinburghas part of like a tour for the
film. It seems like something thatthere, it's not being what you see
sometimes in some great indie films islike flashing a pan and it's gone,
whereas this one they seem to bereally behind it, which is exciting.
Yeah. Yeah, I think.I think it's brilliant in the BFI are
(30:40):
fantastic, and I think Joanna's gotlots of you know, the more I
the more I meet people in theindustry, Johanna's got lots of fans.
I think there is a real marketfor people who love her films, and
she's really appreciated and loved and yeah, yeah, hopefully lots of people see
it and it gets the response thatit deserves. Obviously, A twenty four
(31:03):
distributed this film in America, Ithink, much earlier in the year.
But what was it like to haveworked on an A twenty four film,
especially one that's got Martin Scorsese productionbehind it as well? That must be
quite surreal, too, very surreal. I love A twenty four. If
someone told me a couple of yearsback that I'd be in an A twenty
(31:23):
four film, I would have beenlike, cool, my life's my life's
pretty neat. And then to haveMartin Scorsese as exec producer is absolute madness.
And then my friend actually sent mea podcast of Johanna and Martin in
America last year speaking about the film, and he's talking about me and Tildren.
It just absolutely blew my mind thatMartin Scorsese is like, yeah,
(31:45):
they they really play off each otherbeautifully. I just and to be honest,
it's just madness. I just literallyfreaked out for ages after reading it
because obviously he's you know, helpsI think watches Joanna's edits a lot.
It's just is madness. I thinkhe's amazing and for him to be exec
on this, and I think it'sreally amazing that he He's such an amazing
(32:07):
human being in the sense that hegives so much to independent film and he
sees so much in Joanna and rightlyso, and he wants to support that.
Yeah, there's a brilliant I thinkit was only on the American version
of The Souvenir, but there's abrilliant making of documentary. And there's like
Scorsese just talking about how he metHog and his views on her films and
(32:27):
work. It was just wonderful.And I love that about him too,
where it's just that he loves thecraft and what he does from yeah,
independent films, films made by womenand stuff. His name really carries a
lot of weight, which is justfantastic to see and so and we're so
lucky to have him. Yeah,I'm totally with you. And I looked
on his IMDb the other day andhe's execting on like fourteen upcoming films,
(32:49):
and it is just one how doeshe sleep? How does he eat?
How does he function? For oneis my what I thought, And then
two I just thought, I youknow, I hope, Yeah, it's
you know, we need more peoplelike him because I think he is a
true, true master. Yeah,I think he's remarkable. We're very,
(33:10):
very, very lucky to have himon the planet. I think you mentioned
you're also a fan of eight twentyfour March like us. What are some
of the highlights of their filmography foryourself? Oh, I think my favorite
film that really got me thinking aboutA twenty four is Midsommer with Florence Pooh.
Absolutely. I love ari Asta,absolutely fantastic. There's Lords, But
(33:34):
I feel like I'm trying to think, what about I love all, I
love past lives that's just come out. To be honest, the list is
absolutely endless. I think they've justgot it right. They back really brilliant
stories and really important stories and yeah, apinching moments. If I could do
(33:55):
I'd love to be in a twentyfour film to the rest of my entire
life. But yeah, I feelvery lucky to have been in been in
my first film and it to bein a twenty fourth film, Yeah amazing.
So what's coming next for yourself?So I just finished filming a really
cool TV series and it's going tobe on ITV and that's with Martin Clins
(34:22):
and it's called Out There, andit's about County drug lines and it's about
class, it's about trauma and essentiallythis new way that of drug dealing that's
seeping into all over the UK,but particularly in rural communities. My mum
works in school and she's dealing withfive five children there who are being literally
(34:42):
taken by these gangs to sell drugs. So it's it's a very real problem.
I think lots of people don't know. It's not really in the public
eye or anything at the moment.So it's a really brilliant script, very
dark but fantastic and definitely a storythat I think needs to be told.
So that that's hopefully next and that'shopefully coming out I think next next year.
(35:07):
Fantastic. I'll sking my eyes uponthat one. Thank you so much
for joining US I've really been appreciatedlearning about your experience. No thanks for
having me, M.
Welcome to the NED Party. Hello, and welcome to the twenty four project.
Here in the Nerd Party Network,my name is Lee Hutchinson and Dallas
King and I make our way throughthe A twenty four filmography and along the
way bring you interviews with the talentinvolved in front of and behind the camera.
(00:24):
Now the sag strike is over,we can start to bring you interviews
again, and today we welcome CarlySophia Davies to talk about our unforgettable appearance
as Angela and Johanna Hogg's PostScript tothe souvenir films The Eternal Daughter, starring
Tilda Swinton in a dual role asdaughter and mother who visit a large and
mysterious hotel in Wales to work throughsome of their family baggage, but unfortunately
(00:47):
for them, they come into contactwith Davies's character as a receptionist for the
building who has a very specific wayof dealing with her customers. Thanks so
much to Carly Sophia for joining me, and I hope you too will enjoy
this interview. What inspired you topursue a career in acting. I initially
(01:10):
really liked singing. None of myparents actually have creative careers, but they're
both really creative in their own way. My dad sung and played the guitar
a lot, and my mum's reallyin drawing an interior design. But my
dad's an actual scaffold or my mum'sa secretary, so they don't do it
for a living. So I thinkthe singing was something I was really interested
in from the get go. Andthen I auditioned for a school play when
(01:32):
I was about fourteen fifteen, andit was the first time I sung in
front of anybody on my own,and it was Peter Pan and I got
fast as Peter Pan and it sortof started from there. And then I
didn't think it was going to bea career choice because I was quite interested
in sort of something academic, andmy teachers kind of wanted me to do
(01:53):
that when I was at school.And then when I went to college,
I the day before I was supposedto start the A levels that I was
going to do. Something in theback of my brain was like, oh,
the A block, it's called theA block where the arts block was
in the college, and I waslike, it looks I wonder what it
would be like to do a performingarts course. And then I just as
(02:13):
a last minute thing, I justcompletely changed and decided to do a B
tech in performing arts. And acouple of my teachers like, what are
you doing? What are you doing? You know, you know there's sort
of no safety in that, andI thought, well, I can always
come back, and then it sortof started from there. I did that,
and then I auditioned for drama schooljust just I thought why not,
(02:34):
I'll give it a go, andthen I got in and I moved to
London at eighteen, and it alsostarted from there. Really that's incredible,
And as you're first ever guest fromWales after nearly two hundred episodes, we
finally have Welsh representation on the show. Yay. What's the industry like in
Wales? Like, as you mentionedyou've gone to London, is there much
(02:55):
of an industry in Wales? Ithink for many of us in the UK
we think of Whales, we thinkof Doctor Who, But what's maybe that
wider industry like in Wales. Ithink it's definitely changing. I think even
even three years ago it was different. So I think I know sort of
(03:15):
ten fifteen years back, I wasn'tdoing it then, but I know that
there wasn't as many Welsh TV seriesbeing made. Welsh plays wealth work.
For me, what I always feltlike stayed more in Wales. And when
I sort of graduated, I reallywanted Welsh work to sort of come out
(03:35):
of Wales, not just stay inWales. There's nothing wrong with, you
know, with it just staying inWhales, but I wanted to sort of
come out of Wales because I wantedWales to sort of have its moment.
And I would say, now,actually there's a lot being made TV series,
really interesting stuff at the moment.That is, there's a lot of
focus on Wales and its stories andit's changing. I would like there to
(03:58):
be more, and I would likethem to be more. I often find
sometimes when it is when there areWelsh stories, it's a little bit more,
not always stereotypical. I'd like thereto be more specificity when dealing with
Welsh stories. And also why youknow, sometimes I watch a TV series,
(04:20):
why can't there be a Welsh personin there? Or I imagine you
feel like that with with Scotland aswell, Why can't why why can't that
character be Welsh? Why can't thatcharacter be this? And I think it
is changing so long winded answer toyour question, but I think the Welsh
industry is thriving at the moment andthere's some really cool stuff being made.
(04:40):
But for me, I felt likeI had to move to London for particularly
theater, even though there's some greattheaters and Whales, I just felt like
I wanted to be around the hubof it. But I think now with
self tapes and everything, you candefinitely be be in Whales and do majority
Welsh work that that'd be full.You obviously recently started in The Eternal Daughter.
(05:06):
How did that kind of roll comearound? Because it really landed at
a very interesting time for the productionof that film. So I had it
through my agent. It wasn't likea stereotypical audition process where you get a
scene. It was a conversation overzoom. It was four questions about if
(05:27):
I'd had any experience in the hospitalityindustry, which I had growing up,
and then it was sort of ifI was interested or had I had any
paranormal experiences and what was my sortof experience with movement, And then it
was I recorded it, sent itoff and then I think two weeks later
(05:48):
I met with juannover zoom and wespoke for over an hour and she was
just brilliant, transparent, really smart, warm, and we really connected.
And then I found out two dayslater that I that I that I got
the job, which was mad becausea week later I was on the set
(06:08):
filming. Yeah, when you getthose type of questions, what does your
mind kind of go to of,like, let's say, experience the paranormal
one? Do you think I've justled a sort of normal life. I've
never seen a ghost or a specteror something. Or do you think do
I need to sort of embellish anexperience I had? How do you kind
of approach something like that? Doyou think of do you over thinking think
(06:30):
it could be a test, orhow do you go about it? It's
a really good question. I actuallydidn't plan the questions because I did a
little sneaky peek online when I wasauditioning, and I saw that Johanna's films
were really improvised, mostly improvised,and I thought that for one, for
me the questions, I would answerthem more truthfully and authentically if I didn't
(06:55):
have time for my brain to plan, and with the paranormal question, I
haven't. I didn't have any paranormalexperiences until literally it was very odd.
A sort of month before that auditionhappened, and I had a really weird
experience when I was cooking in thekitchen and I felt like someone was and
(07:16):
someone my boyfriend's recently lost a familymember that had was cooking a lot,
and I had a really weird experiencewhilst I was cooking in the kitchen.
So I actually felt like I hadsomething to speak about. But yeah,
I think if I hadn't, Imaybe would have just said I've not had
any paranormal experiences. I don't knowif I would have got the job then,
but yeah, And how familiar areyou with with Joanna Hogg? I'd
(07:42):
seen the Souvenir and I loved seeingthat, but I hadn't seen a lot
of her previous work. I've seenit now since working with her, but
I was familiar, but not tosort of. I hadn't seen everything.
But yeah, the film was obviouslylike a kind of PostScript to the Souvenir
movies, which was such a surpriseto me when I was watching the films
(08:03):
for the first time. Obviously you'dwatched it beforehand. Was it something like
that? You're watching it, Oh, it's going to be very much like
this, or were you quite surprisedat the turn they took with the Eternal
Daughter? So I actually didn't knowwhat I was in until I watched the
film at Venice Film last year,because Johanna does a story document and she
(08:24):
showed that story document to Tilda andnot to myself. Intentionally, she chooses
who she's working with and what toshow them and what not to show them
because it sort of will help theircreative process, and I didn't see it,
so I didn't know. All Isaw I was Tilda walking around in
a one moment looking like Tilda,and then the next moment looking like Tilda,
plus twenty years and half the timeI was talking to an empty chair,
(08:46):
and half the time I wasn't.So I just thought, Okay,
well there's a mother and daughter relationshipgoing on here, But other than that,
I didn't really know the specifics ofit. So I've seen the film
three times now, and now howI feel like I saw it yesterday?
Actually, I took my friends togo and watch it, and it was
the first time I felt like I'veseen it objectively and that I can actually
(09:07):
see it as a film, andI'm starting to really sort of it's really
starting to make a lot of senseto me. And since I'm going,
okay, and this means this,and I'm still still sitting with me now
and only now can I have thatexperience, because before I just I just
couldn't because I was it was toooble seeing it. I've always been fascinated
by that. We had some guestsso before that worked on the souvenir,
(09:30):
and it would be like this persongets a script, this doesn't. And
I've always wondered what it must belike for someone like yourself, of like
how do I prepare for tomorrow's scenesor what approach do I take? And
you know, some people like knowingnothing that's going on outside of the scene.
Some how does that sort of sitwith with you? I really like
it. I think it's a reallyorganic way of and truthful way of working
(09:56):
in your because you're navigating in lifelike I don't almost know what question you're
going to ask me, right,So it's the same the same thing whilst
working, and there's a kind ofliveness and you're being very instinctive and playful,
and I don't think scripts are great, but I don't think you can
get that in the same in thesame way. I really, I really
(10:16):
liked it. Don't get me wrong. Because Joanna shoots chronologically. The first
scene that we did, and itwas my first time being on a set
as well, that was a bitof a oh oh, here we go,
here we go, like it's likejumping off a cliff moment. But
yeah, I really enjoyed it.And was it quite nervous or a really
rare and exciting opportunity to improvise somuch we think of it so much of
(10:39):
like that's comedy films and TV asopposed to something quite unique like this.
To get that kind of opportunity,I really liked it. I loved getting
the chance to improvise. Yeah,I felt like I discovered lots and I
couldn't plan and it's really shaped mewith the way that I approached the script.
(11:03):
Now I try not to. There'sa fine line I think between two
like too much work and or notenough work on it, and I'm yeah,
working with Joanna has really shaped mein that way. I really loved
it. You obviously had quite atight turnaround from being cast to turning up
in Wales. For this film.How did you sort of prepare for shooting
(11:26):
this film and was there sort ofany kind of I guess anxiety at the
time because it was deep in kindof COVID lockdown that you were shooting this
film. Was there any worries orwas this just like, I'm so excited
to be working again. I thinkat that point, I unfortunately had COVID
twice, so I was hopeful thatit wouldn't come for me again anytime soon.
(11:52):
It was. It was stressful,not in the sense that I didn't
love every moment of it. Itwas stressful, but I didn't want to
give anybody else COVID, And ifyou know, there was definitely an anxiety
about because we were all sort ofclose together. Even though we were wearing
the masks and things like that andtrying to be cautious and sanitizing our hands.
There was definitely an anxiety that ifI did get COVID, or if
(12:15):
anybody got COVID, the entire productionwould have to shut down. So I
was excited, but I also feltlike I didn't get the full on set
experience because my first time on aset was working under such strict COVID protocols,
but yeah, I did. Overall, I still, of course loved
it and had a ball. Ilike to think in my head that you's
(12:37):
all got to stay in that hotel, just in your own separate rooms.
Where did you just kind of wherewere you use based while you were kind
of shooting it? So Joanna wasstaying in the hotel, yeah, yeah,
which it was a very creepy place. I was staying about about five
ten minutes away in a cottage inthe middle of where, which was quite
(13:01):
a terrifying experience in and of itself. And I think the second ad was
staying in her caravan outside the house. People were d dotted all over until
there was just around the corner,I think, about ten minutes away,
and a lot of the crew didstay in the house. They because it
was such a massive house, theyall stayed there. But I'm very grateful
(13:22):
not to have stayed there, becauseI did find it incredibly incredibly intimidating,
creepy And what was that kind ofhotel like to turn up and work in?
Did it sort of help influence yourperformance in the atmosphere as well as
we saw in the film, Ithink probably subconsciously. Yeah, I think
(13:45):
I think we're all affected by,like, as Joanna says, rooms and
buildings and spaces that we occupy ona level I think that we don't really
sometimes take in. But yeah,I think the building definitely made me feel
a certain way. I can't reallyarticulate what it made me feel. It
made me feel unsettled, but Ialso think there was a kind of the
(14:11):
building had such character and it wasreally old, and that kind of it
did definitely do something to me,not consciously but unconsciously. Probably. Yeah,
in your role as Angela there Sept, you bring a real comedic element
to this very tense, dramatic,quite uncomfortable film to watch at times.
(14:31):
Can you kind of talk to playingthis type of role in a really quite
tough going dramat points. Yeah,the ship was actually incredibly light even all
the film's quite emotional and dark anduncomfortable, So it was very light and
I yeah, I just sort ofdrew on experiences of watching other people that
(14:56):
I worked with in hospitality industries growingup. Yeah, I really liked it.
Actually, it sort of felt atthe time. I didn't know I
was playing a comedic grole when Isaw the film and I heard people laughing.
I really thought I really wasn't.I didn't think I was being you
know, funny, I was beingtotally serious. But it's great that people
(15:18):
have found humor in it. Itfeels like such a really kind of that
British type of character, lots oflike passive aggressiveness, a little bit of
pettiness quite yeah, And it's almostthat type of kind of character like gens
like that kind of those boomers thatkind of till the Swinton are playing with
Lucan and think that's what gen Zare exactly like. It's just there's so
(15:41):
many kind of that little touches ofsort of quite hostile body language. It's
it reminded me of when I workedin like retail as a student, of
like you're helping but not really becauseyou don't really want to, and just
you were looking at your computer screenwhere you're like, oh, just looking
at like Instagram or something like that. Like such a fascinating kind of character
(16:06):
to build. It feels very fullyrealized. Ah, thank you. Yeah.
I think Joanna kind of gave me. Joanna gave me lots of little
things, you know, but itwas also really freeing at the same time.
It would be she would speak aboutyou know, her passive aggressive interactions
(16:26):
or witnessing I think family members,interactions with people in the hospitality industry.
And then with It's interesting because Ididn't know too much about the character.
It was sort of left really open, which I loved. But then when
makeup did my makeup and I sawmy costume, I kind of felt a
certain way, which then influenced howI played it. With the nails on,
(16:48):
with the mirror, with the Instagram, it all sort of made me
feel a certain way, which Ithen think helped influence where I sort of
went with it. Yeah, yeah, all those little things were I wish
I could take credit, but thelot the makeup and the costume and the
(17:11):
way that that was designed all helpedfrom the brilliant costume and designers and they
all. It's a real collaboration,is the more I'm realizing as well,
Like you can sort of bring yourbit and then when everybody else brings there,
but it sort of helps you aswell sort of go further down the
line. How does hog kind ofwork with you as as an actor?
Obviously you get a lot of freedomand a lot of space, which must
(17:32):
be quite exciting for such a youngactor. Like, what is she like
in sort of a day to daykind of environment with with you. I
she's the kindest, warmest, mostsensitive human being. I think she has
such a sensitivity. It's like Ialmost think of it as like an antenna
or whatever you call it, Likehers, her frequency is turned up her
(17:56):
she operates on another and another frequentand see, she's amazing. She's one
of the most interesting, kind sensesensitive people I've ever met. And it
was a real joy to work withher. Whenever I see her now,
it's like, Yeah, there's suchwarmth and fondness. I think she's fantastic.
(18:18):
Yeah, it's quite interesting when youlook at her sort of filmography,
like she really seems to have quitean eye for young talent as well and
really nurturing them, see that,particularly like the souvenir films, even young
till Tom Tom Hiddleston when she workedwith him, has she got a real
kind of way with with younger people. I think she's just she's that sensitivity,
(18:42):
and I think you can't help butwarm to her. And there's an
incredible amount of trust I feel fromher in you and in you from her
because it's improvising the way it's shot, and you're completely all everybody's in the
dark, sort of trying to sortof find where they're going. You can't
help it, but be there foreach other and trust each other. And
(19:02):
I think it's interesting that you saidthat, because I think she's one of
those directors that gives unknown talent ashot. Actually, she's more interested in
something that isn't perfect, and youknow, not saying that being sort of
polished and clean and perfect whatever isbad, but she's sort of interested in
(19:22):
something that's very human. And she'snot looking at, you know, who
to get in. She's looking atwho's right for it and who brings what
she needs to the film. AndI think that's what makes her different to
a lot of people. I thinkshe's, yeah, she completely follows her
gut. I think she's like adog with a bone when it comes to
knowing what she wants in the bestway. You alsously got to act opposite
(19:45):
till the Swinton playing two different rolesJulie and her mother Rosland. Can you
kind of break down how these sceneswere technically constructed. I was I didn't
really know a lot what was goingon, and certain scenes to Tilda was
(20:07):
Tilda as we know her, andthen certain scenes she would be in prosthetic
makeup. So it would be Iwould usually do a scene, say the
scenes in the dining room, forinstance, I would do the scene with
Tilda young Tilda, and then therewould be a couple of hours where Tilda
(20:27):
would go off and have prosthetic makeupand come back. But that I wouldn't
really be needed for that because whatwas so cleverly done was I didn't know
sometimes that older Tilda would be sittingthere, so I was only speaking to
the Tilda that was there. Butobviously narratively if people see the film,
that makes sense. So yeah,it would be sometimes talking to an empty
(20:49):
chair. And they were they weresort of like construct and trying to think
about the way that they were constructed. It would be Joanna would set it
up in the sense of killed ushaving dinner. You know, Julie's having
dinner with her mother. You're goingto come in and serve them, and
(21:11):
then I would come in and itwould literally be action. So I would
come in with the things that weregiven and put them down and then things
would just happen, and then Johannadoes this thing where she sort of refines,
she comes in and goes a littlebit further down this path, a
little bit less on that path,a little bit more of this narrative.
Could you include that bit of narrativeand less like this? Or sometimes it
was ruder, be ruder, andI thought ruder. I thought, I
(21:36):
can't be ruder. She's like,no, ruder. I was like,
okay, I'd love to see herlike giving that directions because like anyone that's
seen the film will know about yourvery focused, determined walk and just kick
off a bag and stuff. It'sone of those things you think, how
much of that is direction, howmuch of that from the actor? It
seems like a really interesting blend.Yeah. Yeah. The heels, I
(22:02):
could not walk in those heels,and they I just kind of instinctively went
with something I thought. With theuniform, it was quite cut and harsh,
and it wasn't sort of very fluid. The makeup was quite hard and
a statement makeup. The hair wasback slick, tight, so it kind
of felt like there was this sortof retrained kind of feeling to the character,
(22:26):
which made me feel a certain way. So I kind of just went
with that. What was it liketo work with with Tilda herself? What
was she like as as an actressto work alongside the most magical human on
the planet. Yeah, she's fantastic, super warm, open, supportive,
(22:48):
completely bangst off one another, justreally interested in making each scene as specific
and as truthful and as non performedas possible. And it would really be
a conversation between the three of uswhen we were together, especially Joanna and
Tilda, about each moment, andyou know, they get they get really
(23:08):
excitable together because they're so interested inwhat the moment holds and what each bit
would mean. And the same withme. It was a constant back and
forth, a playfulness and boundlessness.There was no end. It was fantastic.
She's brilliant, totally obsessed with herShe's great. One character we never
(23:30):
get to see is your boyfriend.What can you tell us about your unseen
kind of screen partner. Yeah,so I have a boyfriend that I'm kind
of it's hinted at in the filmthat there is a really kind of turbulent
and slightly toxic relationship going on thereand that I hope kind of makes people
(23:52):
understand where my characters coming from whereshe's sometimes a bit rude. That relationship
is sort of toxic, but they'veboth sort of stuck in it. Did
they have an actor playing that roleor was it just like, hey,
we're never going to see this person, get the person from the catering or
the best boy or the Grip orsomeone just chuck them in a car and
get them to go around or didthey actually have someone or properly cast.
(24:17):
So Alfie who was in the crew. His dad, Tony is one of
the key Grip guys, and Alfieworked for his dad and he had a
car that looked that I think thatwas his car if I remember rightly.
And then he came up to meone day and was like, Oh,
I'll just let you know I've beencast as your boyfriend. I was like,
(24:37):
oh, okay, so yeah itwas it was someone in the crew.
Yeah, he loved it. No, he was chaffed. He loved
it. We did some improv inthe car that wasn't included in the film,
but he loved that and he reallywent for it. He was great
to act with. Yeah, Iloved it. Am I correct that It
was like a seven week shoot?So were you there like the whole time.
(24:57):
And what was that kind of experiencelike, because, as say,
you kind of come out in andout of the film, So what was
that kind of seven weeks like asan overall experience. Yeah, I was
there for the whole time, andwhen I wasn't working, I would sort
of do lovely things around North Wales, go for walks and things. But
yeah, it was there. Itwas lovely. I was in quite a
(25:19):
bit each week, and because itwas such a small cast, it was
like going to work with my otherfamily or something. It was wonderful.
It was great to see them,and yeah, I just wish it in
a way, I look back andwish that it wasn't shot in Covid because
then we all would have been ableto have a nice drink together or go
(25:41):
for dinners together. But yeah,it was great. I was up there
for the whole time, and I'dworked up in theater Cluid i think six
months before, so I knew thearea really well. So that was it
was just nice to be back there. When did you sort of see the
film for the first and wasn't sortof that Venice Film Festival And what was
your reaction to kind of getting thefull picture at Long Last. I had
(26:06):
to sit with myself for a bitafter seeing it to because I was really
emotional and terrified at the same timeactually seeing myself on a screen and not
knowing what it would look like andwhat I would look like, and what
the film looked like and what thestory was. Just. Yeah, it
was a really anxiety walking experience,if I'm honest, but completely surreal.
(26:26):
And I also feel incredibly lucky tohave gone to Venice the first time I
was on a set. It's absolutemadness. It was an amazing experience to
be in that big, huge roomwhere so many amazing films have been screened
and so many fantastic people have satthere, and to be sitting there,
and to be in a film withtwo women that I think are fantastic and
(26:51):
Joseph as well, who plays thegroundskeeper Bill. Yeah, it was a
moment I think that I will holdon to for the rest of my human
existence. Yeah, as you mentioned, there was that surprise of seeing people
viewing your character as quite comedic andso on. How was that kind of
reaction a bit of a surprise reallyto you or was it one of those
(27:11):
ones once you saw that full pictureit was like, Oh, that makes
sense. I always like when youhear from people, they're like I thought
I was in one film and anotherperson thought they were in another, and
it just makes for such an interestingaudience experience when they're watching it. Yeah,
that's interesting that you say that,because I think that's exactly what I
felt like. I didn't know whattype I kind of knew a little bit
(27:33):
about the film, but I didn'tknow what type of film I was in,
and I feel like my character isdefinitely in a different thing to Julie.
Yeah, yeah, it was.It was nice actually two people laughing
and I hadn't. I couldn't reallyremember it because it was shot two years
prior. And then when I didyet, I thought, god, I'm
awfully rude. I don't remember beingthat rude. It was. It was
(27:57):
a very very odd experience. Yeah, I feel like I couldn't remember a
lot about it, to be honest. So I felt like, in a
way I was seeing it and processingit was fresh eyes, and it seemed
to kind of resonate because you madeit onto sort of the long list for
the BIFFA Awards for your performance.What was that like for As you say,
(28:18):
first time on a kind of filmset and you know, people recognizing
your talents so early on. Whatwas that like to find out you'd been
made that list? Madness? Myagent told me and I was walking down
the street and I just started screaming. I just thought it was absolute madness,
a really lovely moment, and yeah, it's another pinch we want,
(28:41):
to be honest, I feel verylucky and the category for that. When
I look around, I've seen someof the films and the people in that
category, and I just was honoredto be noticed, to be honest,
it was, Yeah, a reallylovely thing. Just kind of being involved
in a film like The Eternal Daughterlike help with your future career having that
on IMDb, etc. How muchdoes an impact does a film like this
(29:06):
have kind of going forward? Ithink working with Joanna is definitely gold dust
because I think she's such an artistand her films are I think almost like
paintings to me, if that makessense. So yeah, I think it's
definitely helping my career a lot,and I'm really grateful and I think it
(29:30):
also it's the type of work youwant to do, and I think working
with Joanna it's a really high endquality piece of work that she's producing.
Its real art. I feel likeI feel so privileged to have been a
part of that, and I feellike you almost get taken a bit more
seriously when you do work like that. I feel so far because of who
(29:52):
Joanna is and the type of workthat she's doing, and she's so appreciated.
So yeah, I feel very lucky. I feel like it's definitely he
my career at the moment. Yeah, it feels like the BFI have really
got behind it. It feels likeit was such a long wait for it
to finally come out here in theUK, But when you kind of think
of it, like these winter nights, it seems like the perfect time to
go in the dark to see itcome out of it And the BFI seem
(30:15):
to be really kind of pushing thefilm, which seems really exciting. We
had Joanna Hogg up here in Edinburghas part of like a tour for the
film. It seems like something thatthere, it's not being what you see
sometimes in some great indie films islike flashing a pan and it's gone,
whereas this one they seem to bereally behind it, which is exciting.
Yeah. Yeah, I think.I think it's brilliant in the BFI are
(30:40):
fantastic, and I think Joanna's gotlots of you know, the more I
the more I meet people in theindustry, Johanna's got lots of fans.
I think there is a real marketfor people who love her films, and
she's really appreciated and loved and yeah, yeah, hopefully lots of people see
it and it gets the response thatit deserves. Obviously, A twenty four
(31:03):
distributed this film in America, Ithink, much earlier in the year.
But what was it like to haveworked on an A twenty four film,
especially one that's got Martin Scorsese productionbehind it as well? That must be
quite surreal, too, very surreal. I love A twenty four. If
someone told me a couple of yearsback that I'd be in an A twenty
(31:23):
four film, I would have beenlike, cool, my life's my life's
pretty neat. And then to haveMartin Scorsese as exec producer is absolute madness.
And then my friend actually sent mea podcast of Johanna and Martin in
America last year speaking about the film, and he's talking about me and Tildren.
It just absolutely blew my mind thatMartin Scorsese is like, yeah,
(31:45):
they they really play off each otherbeautifully. I just and to be honest,
it's just madness. I just literallyfreaked out for ages after reading it
because obviously he's you know, helpsI think watches Joanna's edits a lot.
It's just is madness. I thinkhe's amazing and for him to be exec
on this, and I think it'sreally amazing that he He's such an amazing
(32:07):
human being in the sense that hegives so much to independent film and he
sees so much in Joanna and rightlyso, and he wants to support that.
Yeah, there's a brilliant I thinkit was only on the American version
of The Souvenir, but there's abrilliant making of documentary. And there's like
Scorsese just talking about how he metHog and his views on her films and
(32:27):
work. It was just wonderful.And I love that about him too,
where it's just that he loves thecraft and what he does from yeah,
independent films, films made by womenand stuff. His name really carries a
lot of weight, which is justfantastic to see and so and we're so
lucky to have him. Yeah,I'm totally with you. And I looked
on his IMDb the other day andhe's execting on like fourteen upcoming films,
(32:49):
and it is just one how doeshe sleep? How does he eat?
How does he function? For oneis my what I thought, And then
two I just thought, I youknow, I hope, Yeah, it's
you know, we need more peoplelike him because I think he is a
true, true master. Yeah,I think he's remarkable. We're very,
(33:10):
very, very lucky to have himon the planet. I think you mentioned
you're also a fan of eight twentyfour March like us. What are some
of the highlights of their filmography foryourself? Oh, I think my favorite
film that really got me thinking aboutA twenty four is Midsommer with Florence Pooh.
Absolutely. I love ari Asta,absolutely fantastic. There's Lords, But
(33:34):
I feel like I'm trying to think, what about I love all, I
love past lives that's just come out. To be honest, the list is
absolutely endless. I think they've justgot it right. They back really brilliant
stories and really important stories and yeah, apinching moments. If I could do
(33:55):
I'd love to be in a twentyfour film to the rest of my entire
life. But yeah, I feelvery lucky to have been in been in
my first film and it to bein a twenty fourth film, Yeah amazing.
So what's coming next for yourself?So I just finished filming a really
cool TV series and it's going tobe on ITV and that's with Martin Clins
(34:22):
and it's called Out There, andit's about County drug lines and it's about
class, it's about trauma and essentiallythis new way that of drug dealing that's
seeping into all over the UK,but particularly in rural communities. My mum
works in school and she's dealing withfive five children there who are being literally
(34:42):
taken by these gangs to sell drugs. So it's it's a very real problem.
I think lots of people don't know. It's not really in the public
eye or anything at the moment.So it's a really brilliant script, very
dark but fantastic and definitely a storythat I think needs to be told.
So that that's hopefully next and that'shopefully coming out I think next next year.
(35:07):
Fantastic. I'll sking my eyes uponthat one. Thank you so much
for joining US I've really been appreciatedlearning about your experience. No thanks for
having me, M.
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