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We basically just built the film layer by layer, MacKay says of the war epic.
[Director] Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns had written this beautiful script.
But beyond that, we had nothing.
We had to find the places where this story could take place, these locations.
And then we needed to build everything from scratch.
I read that you had three auditions for this.
There were just two audition scenes.
Thats quite a rare feeling.
Oftentimes, its about you bringing yourself to a character.
But I felt that Schofield and I that I knew him quite well already.
I met Sam [Mendes] on the second audition.
The third one Dean [Charles Chapman] and I read together, and then it went from there.
Was that your first time meeting Dean?Yes.
That friendship, between Blake and Schofield, is sort of critical to making this movie work.Yeah.
First of all, thats the context for the story, and, of course, thats essential.
But its a context that provides a circumstance.
Its used to explore the human experience.
I think Sams talked about this: The films really about what it is to be alive.
It kind of roots us with what is most important.
And I think thats what this journey is all about.
Can you tell me more about your first meeting with Sam?
And he says, Theres no right or wrong answer.
Im just interested to know.
And it might be different than how I work, but Id just like to know.
Ive never been asked that question before.
I thought it was a lovely, open, quite probing question.
You understand things about yourself [through playing someone else].
But then, theres this scene where my character becomes sort of too intense.
This friendship means too much for him, and psychologically hes spinning out of control.
He said, But scare her, in that way that I knew exactly what he meant by that.
That sort of very clear but very open direction is what I like best.
Thats an interesting contrast to1917,which is so tightly scripted and choreographed.
It might take up 50 meters of trench.
So thats what we were doing mainly for the six months.
The sound team would be working out how to record the sound.
Then, we would lay stakes out in the ground as markers as to where things needed to be.
I think oftentimes as an actor, youre to yourself.
But it stops you having an awareness of how all things work together.
But with this film, everything had to be worked in harmony and in consideration of each other.
Every morning, Dean and I would be doing military training.
We would be in the costumes.
We were able to test haircuts and see,What haircut would they have before the war?
Who these characters are is kind of what is underneath the film.
For me, Schofield is someone who is on the edge of breaking.
So he sort of learned to close himself down and hold himself together.
It was very important to me to know what his home was, to know who his family were.
All of that research was just something that I did privately.
That came from a mixture of imagination and just looking at all the references.
The war poetry was an amazing way into it, first-person accounts, literature art, as well.
The war painters were a real insight into it.
Sorry I know Ive just rambled at you.
Then we got to shooting and then it was its own beast again.
All we did was rehearse.
So we just actually rehearsed three days work all day.
Its funny: By the end of the first day, we were behind schedule.
Im wondering where you think that quality comes from, or if you recognize it in yourself.I dont know.
I dont know if its for me to say.
When I first read the scenes, I felt like I knew Schofields way of being.
So Im just not going to say anything.
That was something that I felt in Schofield.
You see chinks of it when Blake starts completely innocently asking again and again about his family.
Why do you do that?
Why dont you take on her home?
Why do you do this?
Why dont you talk about them?
If you love them, why, why, why, why, why, why, why?
That feeling was just very fresh.
What was it like working with Roger?Oh man, its amazing.
His reputation precedes him.
But hes a very quiet man, and he just loves his work.
Because hes just so good at what he does?No, no.
I think you know from Roger that the stories are always most important, rather than how you look.
So were not going to start today.
Were just going to rehearse, hope that tomorrow [is the day].
And if its not right tomorrow, well rehearse it again and well wait till the next day.
That commitment and conviction to what is right for the story is something thats amazing with Roger.
This is my last question: Tell me everything about those rats.Thoserats?
The big ones, running around the German trenches.
Were they real, or were they CGI?I dont want to ruin the magic!
I think theres a mixture of some of Britains finest rat actors, yeah.
I think one of them was inRatatouilleand hes had a quiet time of work over the last few years.
But you know, I mean theres some things which have a little bit of help with special-effects magic.
It was a mixture of stuff.
