Andy Serkis is the prince of performance capture. He doesn’t get the coolest costumes on set (he usually wears a lycra bodysuit covered in markers), but he does get some of the best parts. Serkis is the real-life presence behind some of the screen’s biggest effects – from Gollum and King Kong to Tintin’s Captain Haddock. We spoke to him about his brilliant turn as Caesar, a chimp who develops super-intelligence in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, now out on DVD.

What training did you do to play Caesar?
We had a fantastic movement coach, Terry Notary, who worked on Avatar. He had the equivalent of ape boot camp so we could learn to move quadrupedally [on four legs]. We had someone teach us sign language, but Caesar doesn’t just use signs. He uses a more facial way of communicating, because chimpanzees reflect human behaviour more in captivity.

Did you find muscles you didn’t know you had when you knuckle-walked like a chimp?
Absolutely! We also had to decide when Caesar would become bipedal. It seemed fitting around his adolescence. Caesar was based on a real chimpanzee reared by humans in the 1970s called Oliver. Oliver was extraordinary because he only walked bipedally. Everyone thought he wasn’t 100% chimpanzee, and was perhaps the progeny of man and ape.

When you look at Caesar’s face, do you see yourself?
The look of the characters is like digital make-up. So when I look at myself on screen, I see my acting choices, my reactions. Those things are crystal clear to me.

The misunderstanding about performance capture, or CG characters, is that the character is generated by computer… that buttons are pressed and the character’s emotional content is driven by something other than an actor’s performance, which it’s not.

Rupert Wyatt directs the movie on a live-action set with myself and James Franco acting the scenes. He doesn’t see the visual effect of it until months down the line. So he’s got to be certain the performance he gets on the day is real because you can’t manufacture that.

Performance capture’s normally done on an enclosed stage, but this time you’ve done it on a live-action set. What was that like?
Early on the crew weren’t used to the performance capture process. We were shooting a scene where Caesar has a picnic [with James Franco and Freida Pinto], and I was making some vocalisations. The sound recordist came over and said, ‘Andy, do you mind keeping your noise down. I’m trying to record the actors.’

I could feel everything welling up and I said, ‘Caesar communicates through vocalisations and breath, so this is my dialogue.’ And he went, ‘Yeah, I know, but can you keep your noise down?’ So that’s an example of having to educate a crew when you’re shooting in a live-action situation.

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Flipside magazine

It took 320 people five years, with 20 months of filming on 40 sets, for the Aardman animation whizzes to make their latest wickedly funny flick, The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists. Out on 28 March, the film features Hugh Grant as a bumbling pirate captain desperate to beat Entourage’s Jeremy Piven and Puss in Boots star Salma Hayek to the annual Pirate of the Year award.

It’s Aardman’s biggest production yet, with 15 more sets and 100 more crew on board than their last stop-motion movie, Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. During a behind-the-scenes tour of their Bristol-based studio, Flipside spoke to director Peter Lord and model-making supervisor Andrew Bloxham about how they animate 30cm-tall puppets at an average rate of 4 seconds a week.

This is the first film you’ve directed since 2000. Is digital tech changing how you work?
Lord: I feel very free on this film. With Chicken Run, a lot of energy was wasted. If anything went slightly wrong you had to start again. If the sets moved overnight, you’d spend hours getting them back into position. With digital tech it’s easier to go back a bit. And green screen means making characters fly is easier. The puppet’s still supported by a metal rig, but we paint that out effortlessly afterwards.

You’ve added CGI into the stop-motion mix with Pirates! Why is that?
Lord: CG lets us extend the world. So, on Blood Island, there’s a row of sea-front shops which we built in amazing detail. But behind that, the ships sailing in the bay, the palm trees, that’s CG. On Chicken Run we only had so many huts and it was frustrating. You couldn’t put the camera where you wanted as there wasn’t enough set, but on Pirates! you could.

The models are made from silicon and foam on top of a steel armature. Do they last the whole shoot?
Bloxham: No, if they get moved a lot in action sequences, they get quite tatty. We touch them up with paint but you can’t make them look as good, so they’re used for further away or night-time shots, and retired. If it’s a full-body close-up, we use one we’ve just made.

What was the biggest challenge?
Bloxham: The pirate captain’s head. There’s lots of different mouth shapes, but his beard has to grip tightly to the sides of them all. We tried using aluminium wire in the beard so you could push it against the side of the head, but the wire poked through. So we put a slot through the head and a band through the middle which holds the beard against the sides of all mouth shapes.

Lord: We spent nine months getting the look of the CG sea right. There was a lot of discussion about how to make it flatter the stop-frame. For example, if it was too real, it looked like you’d just shot the sea and copied it into the frame.

This is Aardman’s first 3D feature. How important is that?
Lord: It’s very immersive. We make beautiful miniature sets, and 3D enhances the viewing pleasure as you’re more aware they’re real objects.

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Flipside magazine

Every year people flock to the Isle of Man for the extreme thrills of the world-famous Tourist Trophy motorcycle race (TT for short). The bikes scream round the island, hitting speeds of 200mph on 38 miles of dangerous bends and sheer drops.

Released on 22 April, the cinema documentary TT3D: Closer to the Edge plonks you slap-bang in the middle of last year’s heart-stoppingly intense race. Loaded with action, laughs, and eye-popping 3D, the film follows the top riders on the TT trail including Guy Martin, who’s like an English version of Wolverine with his thick sideburns, wild hair, and broad northern accent.

So what drives people like Martin to live life in the fast lane? ‘When you do sport, the body releases adrenaline,’ explains psychologist Rhonda Cohen, head of the London Sport Institute. ‘That rush of adrenaline gives you a real high, a real sense of happiness, and that can be quite addictive. Extreme sport gives you a really quick buzz because it’s so intense.’

Tom Cruise racked up the adrenaline as a hot-headed race car driver in Days of Thunder. Obviously he still felt the need for extreme speed even after all the air-borne hi-jinks he got up to as a US Navy pilot in Top Gun.

Tightrope-walker Philippe Petit gets his adrenaline kicks from adventures with altitude. Man on Wire, a movie-doc with all the tension of a top-notch heist flick, captures the light-footed Frenchman treading the high wire between New York’s Twin Towers.

But thrill-seeking isn’t all giddy highs as Aron Ralston found when he ended up caught between a rock and a hard place… literally. Danny Boyle’s latest film 127 Hours stars Spider-Man’s James Franco as Ralston, who made extreme use of a blunt multi-tool when his arm was trapped by a boulder while he was canyoning alone in Utah.

Despite that harrowing experience, Ralston carried on climbing, as did Joe Simpson and Simon Yates after their death-defying descent of the Siula Grande mountain in Peru. Touching the Void retraces how the British mountaineers ended up in a tight spot when an already injured Simpson fell from the cliff face in to a crevasse.

Getting your kicks by catching a wave can be a risky business too, especially if you’re in pursuit of a bunch of bank-robbing surfer dudes, as FBI agent Keanu Reeves discovers in Point Break.

On the plus side, high-octane activities have benefits beyond the buzz. ‘People who do extreme sports tend to be less afraid about daily life,’ says Cohen. ‘They’re more confident about trying new things, don’t worry if they don’t succeed, and learn from their experiences.’

Fancy taking adventure to the max? ‘Never just go out and try an extreme sport,’ says Cohen. ‘You need to do a lot of preparation first. Read up everything about it on the web. Meet people who do it and learn from them. And make sure you get the right training and equipment.’

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Flipside magazine

What’s the story? Life and death in the fast lane with Brazilian motor racing legend Ayrton Senna.

What’s it like? Think it’s easy to make a movie-doc about a man whose life was constantly caught on camera but make it feel brand-spanking new? Think again. It takes a heap of skill to make a movie that’s this exciting and jam-packed with heart-in-mouth moments even if you already know every jaw-dropping twist and turn of Senna’s story.

It’s 17 years since the Brazilian’s fatal crash at the San Marino Grand Prix, but the three-time Formula 1 World Champion is still recognised as one of the sport’s greatest drivers. Few have rivalled the golden combination of talent, ambition, and charisma that raised him to superstar status. Now British director Asif Kapadia has captured that magic on the big screen for the first time.

From his teenage years on the go-kart circuit to his battles with the big boys of F1, the film follows Senna as he lived life at full throttle. A bitter rivalry with French champ Alain Prost produces plenty of conflict and controversy at the heart of the film, and could well have you up on your feet cheering for Senna and jeering at Prost.

You wouldn’t know that this is Kapadia’s first movie-doc from the impressive film he’s put together. His fresh ideas and keen eye for what works on screen really hit the spot here. Gone are the talking heads who usually take up valuable screen time. Instead, Kapadia lays audio from his stash of new interviews with Senna’s friends, family, fellow drivers, and F1 experts, over a mass of footage from races, drivers’ meetings, and cockpit cameras.

Senna has all the action, drama, and intrigue of a top feature film. Perfect pacing by Kapadia and editors Chris King and Gregers Sall, smart scripting by writer Manish Pandey, and the genius of Senna himself, make for a movie that’s 100% gripping. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a fully-fledged F1 fanatic or whether you don’t know your Jenson Button from your Benjamin Button, Senna is a thrilling trip you shouldn’t miss.

Any clever bits? Laugh along at the Brazilian boy wonder’s wicked humour and sense of fun. And watch wide-eyed at Senna’s seemingly superhuman successes on the F1 circuit. What other driver could triumph over teeming rain and a car jammed in 6th gear to win the championship?

Flipside’s verdict: A breathtaking ride.

Star Rating: 5*

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Flipside magazine

What’s the story? A Welsh dude goes on a mission to get the girl and save his parents’ marriage.

What’s it like? Toss a debut novel, a first-time feature film director, and a young unknown actor into the movie mixer, and you could find yourself with an acute case of big-screen gut-gripe.

Not so with British film Submarine because the novel is Joe Dunthorne’s 2008 hit, the director is IT Crowd star Richard Ayoade, and the actor is star-in-the-making Craig Roberts. All the ingredients of a sure-fire success, then?

Roberts plays Oliver Tate, a duffle coat-wearing, briefcase-carrying, dictionary-reading 15-year-old who prefers his fantasy version of life to the real deal. Roberts has some small-screen time under his belt including the BBC’s Young Dracula, but it’s a massive ask for a big-screen newcomer to carry a movie that’s told from his character’s point of view.

Fortunately, he gets the best lines, such as, ‘My dad drops me 100 yards from school. That way I can slip in like a torpedo, unnoticed.’ Madly in lust with kooky classmate Jordana Bevan, Roberts wrings every last drop of deadpan humour from the film’s script with a voiceover that’s as dry as a pharaoh’s flip-flop. ‘Now that we’d kissed for non-blackmail purposes, I thought it gentlemanly to escort Jordana home,’ he says. Yasmin Paige is perfectly cast as playground pyromaniac Jordana.

As for the film’s adults, Sally Hawkins does a fantastic job of being anything but Happy-Go-Lucky as Oliver’s blunt-as-a-hammer mum, Jill. Noah Taylor, Tomb Raider’s Bryce, adds to the film’s dry-as-a-desert wit as Oliver’s marine biologist dad, Lloyd. And The Bourne Ultimatum’s Paddy Considine is wickedly comical as Graham, the smug self-help guru with a mullet the size of Swansea and an eye firmly set on an affair with Oliver’s mum.

With a cracking soundtrack including new songs by Arctic Monkey Alex Turner, Dunthorne’s novel navigates a successful course from the white page to the silver screen. Sure there’ve been plenty of angst-ridden teen tales in cinemas over the years, but Submarine still feels fresh thanks to Ayoade’s stylish direction and sharp script, as well as the cast’s out-of-this-world performances.

Any clever bits? Oliver’s imagination goes into delusional overdrive as he pictures the explosion of national grief that would follow his early death. His deadpan voiceover describes the scene as we see his classmates weep uncontrollably, TV news analysis of the major event, and candlelit vigils held in Oliver’s honour.

Flipside’s verdict: Do the maths. Ayoade + Dunthorne + Roberts & Co = pure comic genius

Star Rating: 5*

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Flipside magazine

What’s the story? A tenacious teen sets out to avenge her father’s murder with the help of the meanest US Marshal in the Wild West.

What’s it like? This hard-bitten tale of vengeance was first filmed in 1969 with John Wayne but now the Coen brothers have given the story a 21st-century kick with a shed-load of grit and a barrelful of black humour. Life is brutal on the Coens’ American frontier. Necks snap in hangings. Rattlesnakes lie in wait. The land is bare, the sky is bleak, and the wind rages eerily through the leafless trees. You can almost taste the dust flying through the air as horses gallop through the desolate landscape.

Rooster Cogburn is a hard-drinking, one-eyed US Marshal with a reputation for firing first and asking questions later. After going robotic in Iron Man and virtual in Tron: Legacy, Jeff Bridges pulls on an eye-patch to play the badass law enforcer. This isn’t Bridges’ first time in Coen country. That was in 1998 as The Dude in The Big Lebowski. As Cogburn, he’s deadpan funny as hell and very convincing. You can practically smell the stench of whisky on his breath. It’s a good job this isn’t smellyvision.

Bourne star Matt Damon is equally amusing as LaBoeuf, a self-important Texas Ranger in love with the sound of his own voice. But it’s 14-year-old newcomer Hailee Steinfeld who steals the show. As Mattie Ross, she’s a tough-talkin’ teen with a wit so razor-sharp it could slice through steel. She runs verbal rings round adults, including a horse-trader who doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going after cutting a deal with the whip-smart girl.

The dialogue fizzes and the action is snappy enough to make you jump. Whether you’re a die-hard Western fan, a keen Red Dead Redemption gamer, or a newbie to the Old West, True Grit is a rip roarin’ ride.

Any clever bits? LaBoeuf and Cogburn are always bickering and, in one scene, the result is a verbal punch-up over just who is the sharpest shooter. The Texas Ranger’s just been shot, but thinks he’s still a better gunslinger than the one-eyed US Marshal. Cue comedy as Cogburn falls off his horse and stumbles around drunk, tossing empty whisky bottles and cornbread in the air for target practice.

Flipside’s verdict: Go West with The Dude.

Star Rating: 5*

** All text and images are subject to copyright and may only be used with express permission.

Flipside magazine

The King’s Speech (12A) – opens 7^th January

Public speaking is not something most people relish. As comedian Jerry Seinfeld joked, ‘to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.’

So imagine the fear experienced by a man with a nervous stutter who’s tasked with speaking not just to a room full of people, but to an entire nation.

That man was King George VI, who reluctantly became monarch after his brother abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

Starring Colin Firth as George VI, The King’s Speech is based on the true story of the King’s battle to overcome a stammer aided by an unconventional speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush.

Firth missed out on the Best Actor Oscar for last year’s A Single Man, but is a shoo-in for the golden gong next month. And Rush deserves a place among the Best Supporting Actor nominees.

David Seidler’s warm and witty script, fine direction by Tom Hooper (The Damned United), and great performances all lend a very human touch to the story of the King who was never meant to be. Expect to be moved, amused, and absorbed.

Morning Glory (12A) – opens 21^st January

When local news producer Becky Fuller takes over the reins of national morning TV show Daybreak, she thinks it’s the big break she’s been waiting for.

But turning her new show from a fat flop into a big hit is tougher than she imagined, especially with gruff anchorman Mike Pomeroy determined to stand in her way. Cue a battle of wits which could either be the end or the making of her career.

Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes) finally gets the starring vehicle she deserves. As TV producer Fuller, she brings bucketfuls of charm and comic timing to the table in this genuinely laugh-out-loud comedy from The Devil Wears Prada screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna.

And Harrison Ford is hilarious as seasoned grouch Pomeroy, described by his colleagues as ‘the third worst person in the world’.

British audiences will chuckle at the unintentional similarity between the names and flagging fortunes of ITV’s and this film’s breakfast shows. But the film’s real humour comes from a well-observed script and finely judged performances.

Tangled (PG) – opens 28^th January

For their 50^th animated feature, Disney give a fresh twist to the Brothers Grimm classic, Rapunzel.

Kidnapped from royal parents as a baby, Rapunzel is locked in a tower and raised by a scheming woman she thinks is her mother.

For years she’s cut off from the world, with only 70 feet of golden hair and a pet chameleon to keep her entertained.

So when handsome bandit Flynn Rider stumbles upon her tower, they make a deal to escape. But is Rapunzel prepared for life in the outside world?

Tangled moves between classic fairytale storytelling and the knowingness of DreamWorks-fare like Shrek and Disney’s own superb Enchanted.

With its gorgeous animation, score by Disney veteran Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast), plus plenty of humour and action, Tangled makes for entertaining family viewing.

Agenda Magazine

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For Andrea Arnold filmmaking is all about instinct. Like her decision to cast Michael Fassbender, the star of Hunger, in her new film Fish Tank. “I cast Michael after seeing him in a clip of Irvine Welsh’s Wedding Belles,” says Arnold, who at the time was unaware of the actor’s celebrated turn in Steve McQueen’s film. “I made a decision on the strength of that clip, on instinct. We didn’t even get to meet because he was in South Africa filming, but he felt absolutely right.” Arnold’s instincts proved to be spot on. Hardly surprising really given the successful track record she’s notched up since making her first short film eleven years ago.

Images inspire Andrea Arnold

When her debut short Milk was selected for Critics’ Week at Cannes in 1998, it was a sign of things to come. A little over a decade later and the former children’s TV presenter has a raft of awards to her name including an Oscar for the short Wasp; a string of BAFTAs for her gripping feature debut Red Road; and two Jury Prizes at Cannes, one for each of her feature-length releases. She’s fast becoming the darling of both the British art-house and the international festival scene. And her latest offering, Fish Tank, about a teenage girl’s life on an Essex council estate, is only her sophomore feature.

The inspiration for Arnold’s writing is usually an image which turns up out of nowhere, grabbing her attention, and Fish Tank is no exception. “The image appears in the film,” she tells me, quickly adding, “I don’t like to say what it was as I feel it gives the film away, but the person in the image was an angry teenage girl. It had no context, of course, and this was for me to work out.”

The angry teenager turned out to be 15-year-old Mia, whose life is turned upside-down when her mother (Kierston Wareing, It’s a Free World) brings home a new boyfriend (Fassbender). “When I begin exploring the images I really don’t know where they will take me,” explains Arnold. “It’s like going into a mine. It’s dark and you don’t know your way, but in time your eyes adjust and you start to see what is around you and understand it. Sometimes what you discover can be beautiful and sometimes it can be upsetting and bewildering. I just hope the audience do not in any way suffer watching the film like I did writing it.”

Newcomer Katie Jarvis plays angry teenager, Mia

Fish Tank may be challenging viewing at times, but Arnold’s gritty slice-of-life filmmaking is always compelling, and has deft touches of warmth and humour. And judging by the critical praise the film received after its premiere at Cannes this year, the Dartford-born filmmaker has nothing to worry about. However, as a reluctant reader of reviews, she may never know it. “Thinking is the enemy when you are trying to make something,” says Arnold. “When you get conscious of what you are doing it can be inhibiting. It’s one of the reasons I don’t like talking much about the substance of the film or reading other people’s interpretations. For me the film is almost everything I intended.”

But there were, of course, frustrations along the way. “The journey from initial fleeting images to a two-hour film is such a tough and, in some ways, brutal one,” she admits. “It always changes. The images I have in my mind are pure to start; I can see exactly how it should be, know how it should feel. Then the reality of making it kicks in. You do have to compromise and I do get frustrated when I can’t realise some of it the way I want to.” She then adds, “But I also love that things change and evolve and present themselves differently to what I’d imagined. Whatever happens I try to hold on to whatever it was that made me start the journey in the first place, and hope it will still be there at the end.”

Powerful performances
Joining her on this latest journey is a mixed cast of experienced actors (Fassbender, Wareing) and first-timers such as 17-year-old Katie Jarvis. Spotted arguing with her boyfriend by a casting assistant at a train station in Essex, Jarvis gives a powerful performance in the central role of Mia. So much so that she won Best British Performance at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival, and has since been signed up by an agent.

From the start, Arnold was keen to cast non-actors. “People who have had no experience, like Katie, have less fear in some ways,” she explains. “They don’t know what is expected so can be very free. That is a very beautiful thing and can be an unwieldy thing too. My challenge was to shape that rawness. In some ways Katie didn’t act in Fish Tank, but she wasn’t playing herself either. When I watched the first cut I was really pleased to see that the girl in the film was not Katie – it was the girl I had written. I love my characters but there’s no doubt it’s good to conclude something you have given so much of yourself to.”

Now it’s back to what the 48-year-old calls “the lonely job of writing”. “I don’t seem to have a choice,” she says. “I have to write for better or worse.” Given Arnold’s finely tuned instincts, it’s bound to be for better.

Curzon Magazine

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Leading British producer Stephen Woolley has spent a lifetime steeped in movies, from tearing cinema tickets in 1970s London to producing a string of award-winning box-office hits including The Crying Game and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

But when he’s not busy working with stars such as Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, and Simon Pegg, there’s nothing Stephen loves more than relaxing at home in Dyrham, his haven of peace and tranquility for the past thirteen years.

‘When you make films it’s such a nomadic exercise,’ says Stephen. ‘You’re not really in any one place for very long – suddenly you’re in Ireland or France or America. When you come home you want to be somewhere you can feel quiet. And making films is a pretty stressful activity too so the ideal was to find somewhere as stressless as possible.’

Leading British producer, Stephen Woolley

It was thanks to Stephen’s wife and fellow producer Elizabeth Karlsen that Dyrham became home. ‘I was shooting Michael Collins in Ireland and Elizabeth was in Bath shooting a film called Hollow Reed,’ he recalls. ‘We hadn’t been married long and we’d decided to move from Fulham. Then Elizabeth stumbled across this amazing house in a very quiet and lovely part of the world. It really is quite idyllic. You look out and it’s just countryside. We’ve got a couple of horses and a river running down the end of the garden, but we’re not far from Bath, Bristol, the motorway, or the train station, so in a sense we get the best of both worlds. It’s such a special place.’

As well as regular trips to Bath to take in the big-screen delights of The Little Theatre Cinema or the latest plays at the Theatre Royal, Stephen enjoys hiking through the region’s beautiful countryside, whether walking the family dogs in nearby Dyrham Wood or venturing further afield.

Magical mystery tour

‘Dyrham’s on the Cotswold Way and we recently walked to the end of the route at Chipping Campden. We planned the whole thing, staying at B&Bs and pubs on the way. Different friends joined us along the walk and did a couple of days here and there, so it was really fun. It’s pretty strenuous though as it’s very hilly, so you’re never walking in a straight line, you’re always going up or down something!’

‘There’s a real sense of achievement once you arrive somewhere,’ he adds. ‘And what’s great is the thrill of going to different places. You end up at some B&B and either you’re pleasantly surprised because the food’s great, or you’re crushingly disappointed that you’ve walked seven hours to get there!

‘There’s that sort of magical mystery tour element to it which we all love. Our next mission is to complete the Cotswold Way, which means walking about eight or nine miles from our house to Bath. So that’s our plan for the summer.’

But this month it’s time to hang up those hiking boots and pick out some red-carpet shoes, as Stephen and Elizabeth release their latest movie, Sounds Like Teen Spirit, an irresistible feel-good film which follows four young singer-songwriters from across Europe on their road to the Junior Eurovision finals.

Mariam representing Georgia at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Never heard of Junior Eurovision? Neither had Stephen and Elizabeth until BAFTA-nominated director Jamie J Johnson approached them about making a feature on the world’s largest song contest for young people, but Jamie’s idea struck a real chord.

‘I think if you’re my age, the Eurovision was an event alongside Wimbledon and the FA Cup,’ says Stephen. ‘As a kid I loved collecting stamps. I’d sit for hours and stare at some stamp from Monaco, not even knowing where Monaco was but just imagining its culture and people. I think stamp collecting and loving Eurovision as a kid were the same thing. I didn’t get on a plane until I was fourteen years old so the Eurovision, like stamp collecting, was like a journey around Europe.’

ABBA gold seal

If you’re expecting pushy parents and temperamental teens, think again as Sounds Like Teen Spirit is a real heart melter of a movie which celebrates the spirit of the underdog with all the humour of Oscar-winner Little Miss Sunshine. ‘The kids in the film are very talented and incredibly sussed,’ says Stephen. ‘They all have problems – the break-up of their parents’ marriage, being bullied at school, living in absolute poverty in a war-torn country – but there are so many wise words from these children that the film gives you a real sense of optimism. You’re just bowled over by their spirit.’

Eurovision veterans Björn and Benny felt the same. The Swedish songwriting duo, who are extremely protective of their music, have given the film their ABBA gold seal of approval, allowing one of their songs to feature on the soundtrack.

And the film is already receiving rave reviews and favourable comparisons with the multi-award-winning Slumdog Millionaire. So take a chance on Sounds Like Teen Spirit this month, and you’re sure to say ‘thank you for the movie’.

The Bath Magazine

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Screenwriter, novelist, actor, director, and producer. Is there anything Julian Fellowes can’t do? The answer is navigate, or so he tells me as we sit in a huge multiplex cinema in Milton Keynes. I’m here thanks to an invitation to a sneak preview of his latest film The Young Victoria, a wonderfully lavish drama about the turbulent early years of Queen Victoria’s reign and her romance with Prince Albert. Julian’s here thanks to a satnav.

Apparently he doesn’t possess the same ‘inbuilt compass’ as his wife Emma Kitchener-Fellowes, lady-in-waiting to Princess Michael of Kent. Instead Julian relies on his TomTom which, he says in cut-glass tones, is like ‘having my own coachman’. Yet, despite years without an electronic gizmo to guide him, Julian’s come a long way since his student days at Cambridge where he was a member of Footlights, the University’s famous comedy troupe.

‘We were slightly the bread between two fillings,’ he remarks about his Footlights experience. ‘Before us there was Peter Cook and after came Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry. Nevertheless it was fun. However, they wouldn’t let me into the Amateur Dramatic Club, even though I think I’m pretty much the only person in showbiz from that generation, so last laugh!’, he says jokingly.

Julian with Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend, stars of The Young Victoria

Still it wasn’t the smell of the greasepaint or the roar of the crowd which appealed to Julian; it was the lights, camera, and action. ‘I was in love with film,’ he recalls. ‘In those days there were masses of film societies and cinemas in Cambridge and I used to go to about eight films a week.’

In fact it was a film he saw in the city, I’ll Never Forget What’s ‘Isname starring Oliver Reed and directed by Michael Winner, that decided his future profession. ‘You know sometimes there’s a pop record you just can’t hear enough of? Well I saw that film again and again. And during that week, I remember quite clearly thinking I didn’t want just to have an interest in films and a career doing something else, I wanted my career to be films.’

Julian didn’t have long to wait for his small-screen debut – representing Magdalene College on University Challenge – although it didn’t go exactly to plan, as he recalls. ‘I woke up on the day of the show and had this incredible sore throat. I told my mother I was too ill, to which she replied, “You are not!” At the studios they told me they had someone to stand in for me, but my mother told them they were talking nonsense!’

Fortunately Julian made it through the show. However an unhealthy dose of throat lozenges had an undesired effect. ‘You weren’t meant to take more than four in any 24-hour period but my mother gave me about 80 and on the way back my throat locked because I’d taken so much anaesthetic!’

Julian on the set of The Young Victoria

After leaving the academic world, Julian faced a fresh challenge. ‘After Look Back in Anger dramatists had fallen in love with a romanticised version of the working class,’ he says matter-of-factly, ‘and every actor was expected to serve that. And there was a kind of assumption that if you were public school you were amateurish, you weren’t gifted, you hadn’t lived.’

Having been turned away by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, Julian tried his luck in America. ‘At that time British drama schools ran on the basis that theatre was it and camerawork was secondary, something you did to pay the bills. I’d gone into acting to be a movie star and gradually had that pressed out of me. But during two and a half years in America I rediscovered my love of film.’

An Oscar (Gosford Park) and Best Directorial Debut award (Separate Lies) later, Julian’s love affair with film looks set to continue with his latest project The Young Victoria. ‘I was absolutely thrilled to be offered a film about Victoria; I’m mad about her,’ he tells me. ‘The really interesting story is how this girl, who was kept almost under house arrest, became an incredibly successful queen. It’s a miracle she kept such a sense of self through all the terrible shenanigans she had to survive.’

Stellar cast

To Julian’s delight, a stellar British cast including Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada), Rupert Friend (Pride And Prejudice), Mark Strong (Body Of Lies), Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter And the Goblet Of Fire), and Jim Broadbent (And When Did You Last See Your Father?) bring his screenplay to life. ‘I’m really thrilled with the cast. And the producers [Oscar-winners Martin Scorsese and Graham King] were wonderful to work for. I’d work with any of them again at a shot!’

In the meantime, Julian turns to the county of his alma mater, not Hollywood, for inspiration for his next film From Time to Time, which he directs and adapts from Cambridgeshire author Lucy M. Boston’s Chimneys of Green Knowe, the second in a series of children’s books based on Boston’s Hemingford Grey home. Watch this space.

Agenda magazine

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