Original-Cin Q&A: U.K. playwright/filmmaker Jessica Swale talks Summerland, and directing friends Gemma Arterton and Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Written and directed by Olivier Award-winning playwright Jessica Swale, the World War II-era drama Summerland  stars Gemma Arterton as a reclusive writer named Alice. 

Alice’s sequestered life is upended when Frank, (Lucas Bond)  a child evacuee from the London Blitz, is left in her care. Despite initially resolving to be rid of him, Alice finds herself and her emotions reawakened.

Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Jessica Swale about her vision for the film and working so closely with a few of her best friends.

Click HERE for Bonnie’s EXCLUSIVE interview with Lucas Bond who plays Frank.

Summerland is available on VOD Friday August 21st

Gemma Arterton and Lucas Bond in Summerland

ORIGINAL-CIN: Summerland is such a beautiful and, at times, gut wrenching film. What inspired you to write this story? 

JESSICA SWALE: “Well, it was quite an unusual process for me, because I often start with a set-out premise. But this was a case of really thinking about asking myself the question of what I would want to see in the cinema and what cinema can do. 

“I felt very strongly about not waiting to write something that was a sort of a gritty story about our times. I think there is absolutely a market for that and a place for those stories about politics and reality and life in 2020, but that's just not my bag. 

“I like to tell stories that I think are absolutely resonant now, but allow the escape of being somewhere else. I enjoy being a writer because I like to sort of jump out of my own shoes and go and visit another place  and time. I thought, ‘What if there's more than just our world? What would that look like?’”

OC: Yes, although it is set in a real time it definitely has a magical feel to it.

SWALE: “I tried to get that feel by thinking about  the concept of Heaven, and how could I fit in my intrigue of folklore? 

“So I started looking at magic and mystery in the history of legends in the British Isles, and quite soon got really swept up in that. I thought, ‘This is really kind of interesting and a little bit sexy and cool.’ 

“So it all sort of came together very gradually. I always liked writing about underdogs and I like to try and write interesting roles for women which are typical two-dimensional people.”

OC: How crucial was your background as a writer and director for live theatre in helping you to become a feature film writer and director? 

SWALE: “Enormously, because I've spent 15 years telling stories in those different modes. And I was a director before I was a writer, and I was a dancer before I was a director. 

Jessica Swale on-set of Summerland.

“So I started thinking a lot about movement and sound and flow and music as well.  I often directed comedies because they are so much about waiting and getting that punchline choreographed right at the best time. When I started writing for the screen, I suddenly felt like I'd found my happy place, because, actually, as the screenwriter you're not only writing dialogue but incubating theater, you're writing the picture as well.  

“So actually, one of the things that really helped was that, over the course of several years, I was developing and writing about four other screenplays at the same time. 

“Although this is my first feature film as a director, by the time we got to shoot it I'd already had a number of  screenplays under my belt. And that process, of thinking about how you tell a story on film and working with other directors to get those other pieces right, was really helpful.”

OC:  Gemma  Arterton is just lovely in the lead role of Alice. You're good friends with her and have worked on a few projects together. You have also worked with Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who is also exquisite in this. I love it that the three of you are friends and that you were able to do a film like this.

SWALE: “It really was a dream come true to be able to make this not only with two of my closest friends but to have them with me for my first feature film. 

OC: We get to see Gemma in a role we have really never seen her play before. And she really pulls it off and makes it look effortless. How much collaboration, given you are friends, was there between the two of you on this character? 

SWALE:  “I had already written the script and originally I hadn't actually written it for someone her age. I'd written it for someone about 10 years older, and I didn't even give it a second thought to make the lead character younger.   

“We were having dinner one night and Gemma said, ‘You know, someone gave me your script and I love it. I want to do it. How can I be involved? I really want you to make this film because I found it really moving. Can I come on board as a producer?’

“I thought about it and I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely. But what if Alice was a younger woman, and what  if you played her?’ Because I knew she could  be completely flexible. 

“It was something I hadn't seen her do before, and she was completely taken aback.  But she mulled it over. So I thought, ‘Well, it's not what I imagined, but I think actually Alice would be  more interesting if we saw her as a younger woman, and what she went through.’ And then I wrote it accordingly.”

OC: Of course you could not do this movie without a strong leading man. I want to call him your leading man, even though he is only 12.  Lucas Bond, who plays Frank, is just outstanding.  This kid had my heart from the first second I saw him on screen. But for you, obviously, that was a really important part you had to cast.  How did you find him?  

SWALE: “It was really scary. I'll be honest because I knew that the movie would entirely  rest on his shoulders, and that if we didn't find a kid who was good enough, then we couldn't make it. 

“It was tricky because he needed to be a person of color quite specifically. We didn’t want people to put two and two together from the beginning. I wasn't only looking for a great kid, which is hard enough in the first place. I was looking for a very specific kid with a mixed heritage parentage from the right part of the world. 

“I saw hundreds of kids, and I was so glad when we found him from his first audition. He was one of my top, top favorites. But we did chemistry reads. We did the process, but he was in my heart right from early days.”

OC: He and Gemma are wonderful together. It's as if they knew each other forever. Did the two of them gel immediately? 

SWALE: “They did get on immediately. But rehearsal time was very helpful for that, because he had never shot a movie before, and so I wanted to make sure he was really comfortable and that he knew Gemma. 

“I wanted to make sure she could support him without it having to be her focus as well, because she's got enough to worry about and can't be babysitting. It was really important that they got on, and thankfully they really did and I'm not responsible for that. They're both wonderful people and I think they'll be friends for life.” 

OC: There are other children in the film and you scored big by casting young Dixie Egerickx - who is currently starring in The Secret Garden - as Frank’s best friend. They also had good chemistry together.

SWALE:  “They really did. One of the joys about making this movie was that it genuinely was a really supportive place to work and great fun. I would always rather cast an actor who I think is a good person as well. 

“I know not all directors think like that, but I just think the importance of having comradery and feeling supported, and never feeling pushed out by somebody or that sort of superiority that you get with some people, is a top priority.   I'm not interested in having anyone with a superiority complex on my set.  We are all equals and we are all in this together.”

OC: Another amazing character in the film is Alice’s cottage by the sea (in East Sussex). Whatl I want to know is, when can I sign up to stay there for a few weeks?

SWALE: “Well, you might not be able to stay but you can certainly go and visit.

OC:  Just a beautiful and breathtaking location. How did you find that? Did you write that first and then find it or you found it, then you wrote it?

SWALE: “I had actually written about this type of cottage before I saw it. We as a team found it, and I was so grateful when the location manager sent a video of that house to say, ‘What do you think of this?’ 

“I had burst into tears because I couldn't believe that there was a house like I had actually envisioned. It really was magic.” 

OC: There is so much to take from the film,  especially from the back story with Gugu’s and Gemma's characters’ relationship. At the end of the day, when people watch this film, what would you like them to take from it? 

SWALE:  “There are many things as you say. It's always really difficult when people ask what Summerland is about, because I think it's about triumph over adversity. It's about the importance of acceptance. It's about the importance of kindness and being open-minded, whether that's about someone who arrives on your doorstep or who you choose to love.

“It's partly about not judging people. The responses to this have been overwhelmingly gratifying. But one of my favorite things is hearing from older women in gay relationships, and men saying it's unusual to see a relationship on screen which stands the test of time. Most stories that I've seen about  LGBQT don't have a happy ending because the theme is sexuality. 

“While it’s not the central  focus of this movie at all, it was something that I didn't even know I was going to focus on when I started writing. 

“I didn't know that Alice was going to be gay. That happened later. However, now that people are seeing it, I’m getting feedback saying, ‘I feel like I've seen myself on screen. Thank you for representing my story.’

“And you know, that that makes it all worthwhile.”