Actors Ben Radcliffe and Thomasin McKenzie talk to The Inside Reel about details, grounded humor and the essence of romance in regards to their new comedy: "Fackham Hall" from Bleeker Street.
00:30But as actors, you really need to know where you're existing in this world.
00:36How you move, how you talk, how you sort of play between each other.
00:42Can you talk about that?
00:43Because it's as much of an exercise in comedy as it is in drama, if not harder.
00:50I think Jim, the director, did a really fantastic job at setting the scene for us from the get-go
00:57and letting us know what it was that he wanted from us.
01:02His biggest note throughout the shoot was for us just to take it as seriously as possible, not to play the comedy, but to play it as if we were making a drama.
01:16Well done, father.
01:22Well done, father.
01:25England, 1931.
01:28Welcome to Thackham Hall, home to the Davenports.
01:32Finally, one of our children is to be wed.
01:35After so many years of courting, she's finally found the right cousin.
01:39I mean, does it help that you're sort of playing off each other and other people who have done these kinds of things, whether you're talking about Damien or Emma or, you know, or Catherine, for that matter?
01:49Definitely. Definitely. Definitely. I really looked up to Damien and Catherine and all of the incredible cast around us to kind of help guide me, because I'm not a comedy actor, so I needed all the help I could get.
02:05For you, Ben?
02:06Well, yeah. I mean, everyone's so hilarious.
02:08But, like, I think especially for me and Thomason, we were just, like, so focused on being, playing, on playing it straight, and we didn't have to worry too much about the comedy, because we were just trying to be as truthful as possible, and that's why it's funny, because so much chaos is happening around us, and, like, sometimes what we're saying is just so ridiculous.
02:29It was a different time.
02:30National in-show age!
02:32A simpler time.
02:33You're here for the position of Hallboy.
02:35Is that why?
02:36You've brought all the wine out from the cellar.
02:39Yes, ma'am.
02:39And closed the cellar hatch.
02:43A time of manners.
02:46Stop gulping and do your job.
02:49But playing the awkwardness is so great, because you see the heart in that.
02:53Yeah.
02:54Which I hope is a thing that, you know, that shines in this movie, is that it is ridiculous and absurd, but at the heart of it, like, I hope people kind of attach on to the story,
03:06that's kind of at the heart of it, this, like, forbidden love story.
03:08I think it kind of, you know, I hope that it still plays as very truthful, even though it's still very funny.
03:16So many, like, traditions are quite easy to make fun of.
03:21I mean, you see it in this film, there's so much stuff that is traditional, that you see in period dramas, that is just kind of absurd at times.
03:32And the film does such a good job of pointing those things out and making them very, very funny.
03:37A time of modesty.
03:39For God is strong and mighty and made us all hard.
03:44And made us all.
03:45Hard as life may be, he is there to show the way.
03:49And a time of murder.
03:51I'm here regarding the murder of Lord Davenport.
04:00I'm afraid you're too late.
04:02Someone's already done it.
04:03Was there a certain scene that sort of jumped out to you?
04:05I mean, I love the scene with, there's a car scene, you know, when I think, Thomas, and you hit Ben at a certain point.
04:13It's almost a thing to back the future.
04:15Oh, that was fine.
04:16I'm fine.
04:16But can you talk about, you know, finding sort of those details and those moments with the two of them?
04:22Because it feels earned by the end where we do end up.
04:26Thomasin's just brilliant, right?
04:29So, like, such a good actor.
04:30And I'm, you know, being opposite her, like, you're very connected as an actor.
04:36And I think that was what felt real about it.
04:39And that's where I got the, like, you know, any sort of realism that abandoned the humor outside of it.
04:46Because Thomasin just really, really connects as an actor.
04:49There's also an earnestness.
04:50There's a sequence where, with tea, that you both are, there's a, obviously, a comedic part to it.
04:58But it's such a small thing, a small detail.
05:00And it really sort of anchors the love of these two people.
05:05Yeah.
05:05You're talking about the finger twirl.
05:07Yeah, the finger twirl.
05:09The one that they actually used, we did as a joke.
05:12Yeah.
05:13Really?
05:13Okay.
05:14Just like, we were just taking the piss because it's such like, it's like an, I don't know, it's not, it's silly.
05:21It's all so silly, but it was so, like, it's so sweet.
05:26It must be a very subtle finger brush, but we end up doing a version where they just kept rolling and we just did some ridiculous finger touching.
05:34And that's what I used.
05:35I believe the murderer to be in this room.
05:39I shall be watching you all.
05:41And if there's anything out of the ordinary, you can be damn sure I'll notice it.
05:49But see, I think that that's really what the movie is.
05:51It's those sweet elements in with all these sort of jokes that are played real.
05:57You know, so it does feel real.
05:59Yeah.
06:00I really, I, in real life, I'm not a romantic person in the slightest.
06:07I, any kind of, I just find it cringe.
06:11I find it really, really hard to, you know, take it seriously.
06:14But that's something I really enjoyed about this was leaning into the romance and, and like the excitement of it all, like the excitement that, that Eric and Rose share about falling in love.
06:32And, you know, it feels like, um, they feel so starry, starry eyed.
06:38If you want a real suspect, try looking into that orphan boy.
06:43Tell me your dreams.
06:44Well, I have this dream where my penis falls off, but I can't go to the doctor because I'm late for school.
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