00:00So I say all, no, I just say who I am separately from all of us.
00:04Good luck.
00:05Well, thank you so much, by the way.
00:07Hi, my name is Laura Linney.
00:08I'm here with Onwards and Sideways.
00:11Yeah, I'm John Madden, the director of Onward and Sideways.
00:15Hello, I'm Rhys.
00:16I'm John and Laura's friend.
00:18And I've just come along to celebrate Onwards and Sideways.
00:32Are you, we're talking to you?
00:34You are.
00:35Well, then I shouldn't turn my back to you.
00:40What's wrong with this picture?
00:41I'm so sorry.
00:43A new personality.
00:46Hi, I'm Seah Rankin from The Hollywood Reporter,
00:49and I am here with Onwards and Sideways.
00:52Thanks for joining, guys.
00:54John, I'm going to start with you and just tell us a little bit about this movie,
00:58you kind of give us the log line for it.
01:00Two people meet each other and they know absolutely nothing about one another.
01:05And they are both diagnosed with Parkinson's on exactly the same day in the same place.
01:11But they know nothing about each other.
01:13That's basically the kind of log line of the situation.
01:16So everybody would run out of the cinema.
01:17That's something they want to watch.
01:20It's not like that at all.
01:21It's a very, very unexpected film, unexpectedly funny, among other things.
01:28But also very emotional and very interesting and surprising.
01:34And then if you guys would tell us about your characters a little bit.
01:38I play Tony Evans, who is a primary school teacher and a widower.
01:47He's quite relatively happy with his lot.
01:50But he's a little sad and a little lonely at the beginning of the film.
01:57I guess his only community is his classroom in many ways.
02:02So, and then he receives this devastating diagnosis, initially Parkinson's, at the same moments that Emma, Laura's character, receives hers.
02:14And the film follows our journey with and through Parkinson's.
02:23And what that does to our lives and our choices and our hopes and dreams, how it closes us down
02:35physically and opens us up in other ways.
02:39It becomes a ball and chain and a set of wings all at once.
02:43Oh, that's really good.
02:45Tell us about Emma.
02:46I play Emma Dressen.
02:47I am an American living in England.
02:51So, stereotypically and quite accurately, she is an oversharer and she talks a little fast and a little loudly.
02:58You know, what's funny is I didn't think that about her because I'm American, but that's funny that that would
03:02be how you guys.
03:03And we didn't think that either.
03:04Well, I did.
03:08So, I am a single parent of two children and a composer who lives in the world of music and
03:16rhythm and syncopation and then finds herself diagnosed with a condition that challenges all of those things.
03:25Where do you see this movie on the spectrum sort of tonally with all of your other films that people
03:31have maybe seen?
03:32Like kind of where do you see it fitting in?
03:34I don't think it fits anywhere, obviously.
03:37I mean, it has what I would call a mixed tone.
03:40I didn't really like to call it that because it's like we're saying, let's do it this way.
03:44It just happens that way because of what happens in the story.
03:48That's why I keep using the word unexpected because it is unexpected and I think an audience doesn't necessarily know
03:55where it's going to go, which makes it, I think, intriguing for them to see.
04:03I wouldn't put it in a box, really, because it's very, very unusual in terms of what it's about and
04:11in terms of what happens in it.
04:13Had you two met before? I was sort of trying to like if there's a six degrees or anything.
04:19No, we hadn't. But I do. I feel like I've known her for 300 years.
04:23I know. No, it's true. We were very, very lucky.
04:27It's just one of those working relationships that really clicked.
04:30Expertly cast, you see.
04:31Yes, that's right. Set up the chemistry.
04:33No, I think given the requirements of telling a story like this, you know, just for an actor, just technically,
04:41it just demands that you make yourself completely available to your co-star in a way that I haven't had
04:53to before.
04:54You know, because we had to put ourselves in a very kind of place of real vulnerability as characters, but
05:03also as actors in order to to kind of excavate that vulnerability.
05:08So immediately you become great friends and, you know, great friendships based on trust, you know, and so that's what
05:17we had.
05:18And then it happened. It happened halfway through a read through.
05:21Mm hmm. Was that the first time you met was doing a read through?
05:24Well, we both realized there was a moment where we wanted to run as fast as we can in the
05:29other direction because of because the onus on getting this right was was huge, you know, and we worked hard
05:37to do that with a lot of help.
05:40So you did meet for the first time during the read through or how did you did you have a
05:43dinner?
05:44Yeah. Yes. Before we had we had a week of rehearsal about three weeks before we started filming, which was
05:50a godsend because it gave us time to learn as much as we possibly could about Parkinson's and about the
05:56different types of Parkinson's that we have because Parkinson's is very unique to the person who has it.
06:01There are over 40, 45 symptoms of Parkinson's and it's very bespoke to each human being.
06:08So our Parkinson's is very different from each other. So we learned as much as we possibly could.
06:13We had excellent advice and education from support from the neuro heroes.
06:20And and we worked on that for a solid week while reading the script.
06:25And then we went I went home. I went back to America for three and a half weeks, maybe.
06:29Mm hmm. And then we met up again and then in gorgeous one started rehearsing again.
06:34Yeah. What's the best part of of Norfolk? Oh, well, for me, you know, I I love that there is
06:41this ancient land that has not that has been farmed.
06:45But that's about it. It is ancient land that has an incredible power to it.
06:50And the sky just goes on forever. Very, very, very big. It's just and the beach, you know, leading you
06:58to the North Sea is quite dramatic and quite romantic.
07:01And it's just gorgeous. I loved it.
07:04The the element of your characters taking I guess you're more into it than than he is.
07:09But the ballet class that you take had any of you ever even in childhood done any sort of dance
07:14class before you had.
07:16I had. Yes. And I was asked to leave.
07:21How come? Because you were so good.
07:23I actually had to do tap dancing in drama school and I was excused.
07:26They used to let me go to the library and listen to listen to Dylan Thomas records reading his poets.
07:32So dancing is not in my kind of wheelhouse. That's OK. Laura's good, though.
07:38What were you doing? What dance? I did a bunch.
07:42I did ballet. I did jazz. I did tap. I, you know, did all sorts of stuff for a while.
07:47Yeah, there's this really beautiful scene with your character and his former students.
07:52Can I say that? I'll leave it at that. Yes.
07:53But I'm curious if any of you are in touch with any of your former teachers or if there's anything
07:59similar.
08:00Yes. It's funny. Anytime I do a play.
08:04They show up.
08:05Which is amazing.
08:06And it's always so touching.
08:07Yeah.
08:08Well, they're in your family, aren't they?
08:10Yeah.
08:10It's the same.
08:11School teachers and drama school tutors, you know, it's always lovely, isn't it?
08:15There's a moment when your teachers become your peers after you graduate.
08:19Yeah.
08:19And it's very shocking when it first happens.
08:21And then you realize how much they've been on your side from the minute you walked into the building.
08:26Mm-hm.
08:26You didn't even realize that until you're out and graduated.
08:29Mm-hm.
08:29And they're so proud to come backstage and see you.
08:32Yeah.
08:32How did this feel?
08:34Because you've done movies before, Laura, where, like, I'm thinking of The Big C, I guess, TV show.
08:38How did this feel, like, portraying this feel different from doing that?
08:41I'm sure quite different, but just kind of...
08:43Yeah, absolutely different.
08:45I mean, The Big C was a half-hour comedy on, you know, that ran for several seasons and had
08:53an ensemble cast and had a, you know, I think hopefully a good, you know, but television rhythm to it.
09:01Mm-hm.
09:01And this is a film.
09:02Yeah.
09:03You know, this is a different animal.
09:05But it does deal with the similar theme of when your life is threatened, when what you know, when you
09:11have to let go of what you know to be true about yourself and your life, and realize that you're
09:15moving into a totally different phase of your existence.
09:19And how do you deal with that?
09:21What are the choices that you make around that?
09:23Do any of you remember the first job in Hollywood that kind of gave you your first, like, real paycheck
09:29and what you bought yourself with that?
09:32My first real job was actually in the theater in New York, and I bought myself a winter coat.
09:37Oh.
09:37I bought a winter coat, and I was so proud of that coat.
09:40I was so proud.
09:42It had a hood, and it was camel.
09:44It was like three-quarter, and I loved it.
09:46But it was, yeah, there was a real moment of, my God, I bought myself a coat.
09:52It was good.
09:54I bought a chunky chain, again, at the theater.
09:57Yeah, yeah.
09:59I was at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden in London.
10:02And I saw it.
10:03In London.
10:04Accidental death of an anarchist.
10:05Yeah, absolutely.
10:06And each day I'd walk into work, and I'd pass a stall just off seven dials that sold, like, kind
10:14of chunky, really expensive-looking,
10:16silver jewelry.
10:19Wow.
10:19And, you know, theater's not the best payday.
10:23Yeah.
10:25I always say to people, it's always important to go back to the theater and be underpaid and petrified.
10:30Keeps you on your toes.
10:32Mm-hmm.
10:32And by the end of the run, I'd accumulated enough pay slips to buy myself this sexy, I thought at
10:40the time, chain.
10:41Do you still have it?
10:42I've lost it.
10:43Yeah.
10:43Yeah.
10:44But it was beautiful.
10:45Do any of you have a movie or TV show that you were in or made that you, if you
10:51could remove yourself from it, you would, so that you could enjoy it, like, the way the rest of us
10:56are?
10:56Like, things you're in that you can't watch, but you wish you could.
11:01I'm very, very happy watching anything I've made.
11:04Yeah.
11:04That's a terrible thing to say, isn't it?
11:06No, it's good.
11:07It's good.
11:07No, just because I just remember what it's like once we've done it.
11:11What do you rewatch?
11:12Do you rewatch anything for fun or what would it be the most?
11:15I do.
11:16Yeah, some of them.
11:17Yeah, I do.
11:17Absolutely.
11:18I'm curious to go back and look at it and think, did I make a complete mess of that or
11:22is it a piece of, you know, brilliant genius?
11:26No, I'm being a bit facetious.
11:28Yeah, I do look at things from time to time.
11:31It's a very different experience and it's good for me because I stay inside the thing that I've done, the
11:38piece that I've been working on, this one being the most prime example of it.
11:43And I can't really get myself out of it for a long time.
11:47Yeah.
11:48Particularly with these two.
11:52What about you guys?
11:53Anything?
11:54I mean, it's excruciating.
11:56It's horrible to watch yourself.
11:57Yeah.
11:57It's just the most unnatural thing in the world.
12:00It's awful.
12:01And every time I go see something, I mean, I wish I could just blur myself out and change my
12:06voice with some machine so I can see what everybody else's work is.
12:10It was a very funny situation where we decided that we needed to show the film to Laura and Reese
12:18and we knew that moment would have to come.
12:20It was just myself and the producer and we were in a small viewing area and the two of them
12:28sat as far away from one another, having been incredibly close all the way through the film.
12:33And just didn't want to be judged by one of the other side.
12:36Yeah.
12:36And we were sitting at the back, very far apart as well, so they couldn't see us.
12:41It wasn't a comedy that time.
12:43No, it was like a four on a piece of dice.
12:45Well, it wasn't a comedy then, of course, but at that moment.
12:47But it was a very, very unusual situation.
12:51And we sat there in complete silence for quite a long time until eventually I said, why don't we just
12:58leave the two of you alone?
13:00Yeah, I think I buried myself under a scarf for a while.
13:04And very gradually, Reese came over and sat next to Laura.
13:08But it was a very, very, very profound experience.
13:11I've not been being pretentious here.
13:14It was very, very hard.
13:16It was more than anything, you know, we've done before, because it was very, it was a very, you know,
13:23there's always that little vain bit of you that hates watching yourself.
13:27But this was something way more kind of existential and profound.
13:32And it really, it kind of, it kebabed us both in a way we weren't expecting it to, you know?
13:38Yeah, what do you go and do after you leave that theater?
13:41I was stunned.
13:42I was just absolutely.
13:43We just kept asking each other if the other was okay a lot.
13:46Yeah, yeah.
13:47For the longest time, you know?
13:49Were you?
13:50No, I was not okay.
13:52Not for a bit.
13:53No, no, it took a long time.
13:54And it wasn't because of the usual, I don't like watching myself.
13:58No.
13:58It was this kind of strange, I don't know.
14:01I think also it was, we had to let it go.
14:04Yeah.
14:04You know, it was something that had been so intimate between the three of us and our crew.
14:09And all of a sudden to realize, oh, it's not living in me anymore.
14:14And there, so there was a, and I've never felt this way about a movie before.
14:19You know, I'm always like, you're happy with what it's done and it's thrilled.
14:22But there was something about the loss of this very sort of sacred intimacy that we all
14:26had together.
14:27That, I think I was scared that that would go away.
14:30You know?
14:32So unfortunately, I'm lucky that it hasn't, so.
14:34It sure is.
14:34Like there's a part of you that didn't quite, wasn't entirely convinced that we were actually
14:39being filmed.
14:40Yeah.
14:41You know?
14:41Yeah.
14:42Which was just lovely.
14:44Yeah.
14:45Fabulous.
14:46Well, thank you so much for coming and talking about it.
14:48I appreciate it.
14:49Thank you for having us.
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