SON OF RAMBOW Interviews Part 1: Jessica Hynes

Son of Rambow, the much hyped new British comedy-drama-esque movie set in the 80's, we thought it might be nice for our lovely readers to have a peek behind the scenes. Then we thought it'd be much better if we went further than that and gave them a peek inside the heads of some of the cast and crew! So, first up it's Jessica Hynes - who has a bit of a love-fest over the film, as well as indulging in some nostalgia and divulging a little about her future prospects... What did you think when you saw the script for the first time?

I thought it was fantastic, I really wanted to do it. It was original and I could see what they wanted to do and, you know, from that to this is incredible - they surpassed what I imagined. I feel lucky to be part of it, it's one of the best films I've seen in a long time and certainly one of the best British films. When I saw the cast and crew attached I just thought 'It's a classic!'

What research did you have to do to play a character in the Plymouth Brethren?

Well they did a lot of research and Garth talked to me, he used to live next door to this Plymouth Brethren family, and I managed to ummm find something about the Plymouth Brethren on the internet. You know it's so easy easy to just find stuff on the internet now and I emailed some of these groups and they provided useful information. It's all very spiritual, very religious, they're all so Godly. They don't want any distractions, they focus on what's important which is family and community. The simple things. I couldn't fault it, it all makes sense! I mean the no television thing I understand but I couldn't cope without music...

So did you do the whole 'no TV' thing to prepare?

I didn't! Although I don't watch television in the week anyway, just because I don't think it's great to watch too much television. It's better to maybe do other things as well.

You didn't have a very exciting wardrobe on this one did you? One skirt, one blouse and a headscarf!

It's very freeing having a uniform. In a way it reflects the uniform of the way you live your life, everything's regimented, you don't have to engage with millions of choices that are confounding and exhausting you can just exist.

You didn't find it restrictive?

I loved it! It was like Little House on the Prairie!

This is a more dramatic role for you, is that something you're leaning towards?

No! Absolutely not! No no, I mean, this is a one off. I love doing comedy and that's what I've always wanted to do. I'm trying to write something for myself because it's hard to find good comic roles, male comedy writers tend to write male comedy roles - it's just the way it is really. So unless you write comic roles for yourself they're hard to find, you tend to end up sort of being less comic. But to play a straight role in a film like this is a gift. I was just happy to be a part of it.

Did you feel left out watching the kids doing their crazy stunts?

Nooooo no, no. Also, your gender and age dictates what you can really do. I don't think I could really hack it as a 15 year-old, I don't think I could get away with it. Maybe if you'd put me in the background for the 6th Form scene then maybe, in a puffball skirt... I would've quite liked to be in that scene, it's one of my favourites in the film... But I mean this sort of project doesn't happen very often because it's so close to what Garth and Nick originally wanted to make and they just stuck to their guns and protected it through all its journey to this point and fought off any potential interference and said 'No, this is the film we want to make and this is how it's going to work for us'. To be part of that in any capacity is great because these sort of things don't happen, well, ever!... or very rarely.

You said you let the boys get on with it, but did you identify with their story more?

Oh yeah, much more. When I read the script I identified much more with the boys than I did with Mary because I didn't grow up in a very austere, religious household. I identified with the boys, I think everyone would do.

Was there any room in the script for improvisation?

No, we had to stick to the script really.

But there wasn't much script for you was there, just a lot of quiet moments...

Yeah, I suppose, the way the film is crafted means the story was told through the script, but a lot was told visually. I think it's a strength that Garth and Nick have, their films do have a strong visual language which is why they're intrinsically cinematic and why they're pleasurable to watch. Mary's story is told in a similar way, it's not lots of people talking about things it's visual, even to the point where some of the stage directions were written out by Garth, he'd thought the scenes out so clearly. It's all very scripted, Garth had imagined the whole scene, what he wanted to capture and how he wanted to capture it.

Have you ever been on a French exchange?

No, but my friend Leila did have a French exchange and everything in the films ring true.

Were you influenced by Rambo as a child?

I was aware of it and knew it was out there. But it's different as a female, you're less likely to identify with male characters and more likely to identify with female characters and there wasn't really a female equivalent. The thing I identified most with was Monkey, the lead in that was very strong and silent princess type... but I never really saw myself as strong... I always saw myself more as Pigsy... Although Pigsy was always male so I'm lost a bit. Identity crisis! I also loved Jodie Foster in Bugsy Malone, I love the film anyway but Jodie Foster in it was just (Sigh). I mean if you look at the difference between her and Blousy Brown, bless her, Blousy Brown looked like a child actor in a film but Jodie Foster was like a movie star and I really remember thinking that. I'm not saying anything bad about Blousy though! She did the job and did it well!

So no action heroes for you then?

Well I did have a hero complex and I did do the whole cape thing. Defending the weak, that was what I did, which is an intrinsic feeling of being part of a superhero club - fighting for justice, not because you're a bully you're protecting someone else, so you identify with heroes then. But I was clearly confused.

Have you seen the newest Rambo?

No I haven't actually, I doesn't appeal. I think the original Rambo, as Sylvester Stallone has said, is the finest.

Are you writing anything yourself at the minute?

I am writing something, yeah. I'm developing a comedy for a production company, but i'm facing all the same problems really in that you see it in a certain way but you talk to the people who hold the purse-strings and they say something like "well, we were thinking, maybe, it's just a thought, maybe replace that thing there with a budgie" and you're supposed to go but you feel like going . On the one hand you respect them and want their money but on the other hand you're thinking "I've thought about this for quite a long time!" And I've spoken to Garth about it quite a bit because they faced the same kind of struggle. It's an exciting road.

What's the stupidest thing you've been asked to change in a script?

There's one thing I always felt I was right on when I was writing SPACED with Simon and that was that I wanted to do a GOONIES reference. But he was like "Nobody knows THE GOONIES!" but I was like "You're showing you're age Simon" I felt like he was so much older than me at this point "Everyone loves THE GOONIES Simon" and he's like "Nobody knows THE GOONIES and they won't get the reference". It was the bit where Chunk gets his hand stuck in the food mixer.

We all know THE GOONIES!

I know but he just wouldn't let me put it in. I even drew Edgar in and was saying "How can this not happen??" I don't know, I think they were just being deliberately mean. "Anyway, you're a girl you don't know what you're talking about". That was the one thing. Big mistake, BIG mistake. I think I might have to get him to admit he was wrong about it.

On the topic of SPACED, is there any scope for a revisit?

Well we were thinking about doing a spoof of Cloverfield because in America now they've bought it and they have the rights because they have their own version so we can't have anything to do with it. But we were thinking about a Cloverfield spoof trailer where the statue of liberty head comes crashing into the garden but... I don't know, I'm not sure. It's all a bit up in the air. It'd be great, I'd love it, but I don't know.

If that's wet your appetite for SON OF RAMBOW, it's in cinemas in the UK from this past Friday 4th April and hits the U.S. next month. If you're hungry for me interviews keep checking back. There's more from SON OF RAMBOW cast and crew coming, and perhaps even a few more little treats I can rustle up!