you worked with two actors who already have a strong following among queer audiences: tom cullen through weekend and joe locke through heartstopper. what did each of them bring to the film?
director rhys marc jones (black church bay): it was a dream working with both of them. we shot the first section of the film during the first two weeks, almost as its own self-contained narrative. that was interesting because, when joe left, everyone genuinely felt his absence – including tom. in a way, that helped the film. we actually cast joe first. lucy pardee, my casting director, is renowned for street casting – she worked on aftersun and andrea arnold’s films and has an incredible ability to discover people. but she felt, and i agreed with her, that because of the nature of this film and its adult sexual content, it wouldn’t have been prudent to cast a complete unknown. it needed someone who already understood the industry and could handle that kind of pressure. when i started thinking about young actors, joe felt like the obvious choice. i watched the first season of heartstopper when it came out and remember thinking, ‘by the time my film goes through financing, maybe he’ll be the right age.’ he also grew up on the isle of man, which felt relevant. it’s an island not unlike anglesey – you can even see it from there – and i thought he would make a great jasper. when we got joe and tom in a room together, the chemistry was just great. tom is such a generous actor, and there was something magnetic about their on-screen pairing. so it was quite obvious to cast them. i think they both really deliver.
🔗: https://t.co/09m7VqWWiS