Stuart Murdoch (SM)<\/strong>: It took me a while to actually make it, but I decided ages ago to direct it. But I had to juggle the band, family and lots of other things to get it made. It was always a delight to make, and to be working on the side of the business. It never felt like a long time, really, because it was always enjoyable.<\/p>\n
I know there\u2019s always a little bit of suspicion when somebody jumps from one art form to the other, but it honestly feels like a very natural thing. It\u2019s more like going from one hundred meters to two hundred meters or something. (laughs)<\/p>\n
Q: You released the \u2018God Help the Girl\u2019 album before you made the movie. Was that a help for you, as you started working on the screenplay?<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: Well, actually, I\u2019d written most of the screenplay by 2006 or 2007. But I\u2019d written the songs before that, and they had informed the screenplay. But it was helpful to nail down the music on a practical level because I wanted to get it out of the way before the film came along. Producing an album with different singers and string arrangements is quite a process. I wanted the two to be separate because else otherwise I\u2019d have had a stroke. <\/p>\n Q: Emily, what was it like starring in the film with Stuart directing?<\/p>\n Emily Browning (EB)<\/strong>: It was awful! (laughs) It\u2019s so weird when we have to answer questions about each other when we\u2019re sitting together! Stuart came up to us before we started shooting, and was like, \u201cYou know, you guys have made a lot of films, but I haven\u2019t. So you might need to help me out.\u201d But it didn\u2019t really seem like we needed to help you. I don\u2019t know if we were really any help, to be honest! (laughs)<\/p>\n It was a really different process and a experience than any other film that I\u2019ve made, which is a really good and positive thing. It was also really great having Barry (Mendel) there to be the grown-up saying, \u201cWell now we need to do this.\u201d Most of the time it felt like the two of us, as well as Hannah and Ollie, were just messing around and getting to play. I hate saying the word \u2018play\u2019 when you\u2019re talking about work! <\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: I was playing!<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: Yeah, I know. It\u2019s just such an awful word! But it was just easy. It was really enjoyable, so it was really depressing when it ended. <\/p>\n Q: How did you prepare for a singing role?<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: I didn\u2019t at all! I mean, I came in and said, \u201cWhat singing teacher should I go to? I\u2019ll go and take lessons.\u201d Stuart was like, \u201cDon\u2019t, because I like it if it sounds a bit crap sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: Was it intimidating at all when you were starting off, working with a director for whom this is such a personal film? Was that troubling for you before you started?<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: Yes, it was.<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: I presume with every film you make, there\u2019s somebody there for whom it\u2019s very (personal).<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: Yeah, and if it isn\u2019t, it\u2019s kind of awful and soulless. I\u2019ve done films where the story and the character isn\u2019t a big deal to anyone if it\u2019s a big-budget, silly film. That\u2019s awful and horrible. There\u2019s always someone that the story belongs to. But I was far more intimidated with the musical aspect, just because I\u2019ve been a fan of Belle & Sebastian for a really long time. I was like, I have to go in and just sing. I\u2019m just singing my songs and I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing. It was all fairly relaxed.<\/p>\n Q: How was it seeing the finished film?<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: Weirdly, it\u2019s maybe the only movie that I\u2019ve ever done that I want to keep watching, which is really strange. Maybe because I\u2019ve acted for such a long time, it doesn\u2019t really interest me anymore, seeing myself acting. But seeing myself singing, it\u2019s like, oh look at this cool thing that I did! I\u2019ve seen the film about seven times.<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: The music does lend itself, which is one bonus that music has over film. Sometimes you spend a long time editing, and it\u2019s a very technical process. It doesn\u2019t reward you then and there, and it comes together very slowly.<\/p>\n But when you\u2019re mixing music, when you\u2019re in a studio mixing music, you can be in there for twelve hours and enjoying yourself. It has a beat because it\u2019s a thing that\u2019s happening. It\u2019s real and it\u2019s live. So the music does help you. I can see how you\u2019d want to watch it a few times. <\/p>\n Q: Was there added stress about the fact that the film\u2019s a musical where people are singing to the camera, but they\u2019re not performing music all the time? Sometimes it\u2019s in their head and it\u2019s almost an old-fashioned type of musical.<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: We did \u2018A Down And Dusky Blonde\u2019 live.<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: You also performed \u2018Come Monday Night\u2019 live, as well.<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: \u2018Come Monday Night\u2019 was okay because it was in the rehearsal room, so it was just a comfortable bunch of people. Then for \u2018Down And Dusky Blonde,\u2019 we had about two hundred people in the audience, so it was like a gig. It was like playing a show, which was terrifying. I think the first take I was just mumbling and not looking at anyone. By the third time, it was the most fun ever. I didn\u2019t want to stop doing it, I understood why you\u2019d want to be onstage singing for people.<\/p>\n Q: With that in mind, given that you come out of the alternative rock scene before the internet and before people were constantly marketing themselves, there\u2019s this organic quality to the experience of emerging as a band. Then you step back and think about what that process is. What did you learn in terms of stepping away from your own experience and thinking about it as a process, and then being able to write this story?<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: To me, it was mostly a story about Eve and the other two characters. It was very much driven by the characters. I wrote the script simply by listening to the characters talking, and they didn\u2019t talk about music that much. I never really thought about them in parallel with Belle & Sebastian or anything else.<\/p>\n It was only late on that I realized I would miss a trick if I didn\u2019t use some of my own experience about the experience of being in a group. We did end up putting a few of those kind of markers using my own experience. Like when James gets on his soapbox and talks about music in a condescending way to the two of them, I\u2019m using my own experience.<\/p>\n Q: So that\u2019s what you did?<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: To an extent, because occasionally the band would rehearse ten percent of the time and we talked shit the rest of the time. We\u2019d talk about the eighties and the sixties, and everything that had to do with music. There were opinions flying all over the place, and I\u2019m a very opinionated person. Often my opinions are long. So there\u2019s obviously a hint of that in James. James talking to those two is a little bit like me addressing the group sometimes.<\/p>\n Q: Is James your surrogate character or all of three of them?<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: Well, he\u2019s certainly not like Cass. She gets away with it. She\u2019s free and easy, and light as air. She\u2019s just the delightful person that comes in and helps the other two. But certainly there are bits of me in both of the other characters, even though this might be a long time ago. I like to say that I empathize more with the characters than I actually am the characters. That\u2019s why it was easy for me to write from their positions. They definitely came to me like distinct characters.<\/p>\n Q: You were saying you gave certain markers to pay attention to, whether it was movies or music. What do you remember telling the actors to see?<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: I can\u2019t remember much. It\u2019s really weird to answer these questions sometimes, because we made this movie about three years ago! What did we watch? You left a bunch of DVDs. <\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: They were there for two weeks and somebody asked me, \u201cDid you leave these?\u201d You were all like, \u201cDo we have to watch these?\u201d<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: We all watched \u2018Dazed & Confused\u2019 together, which I\u2019d seen before. <\/p>\n Q: Did you do research or try to watch a lot of movie musicals, with this being your first film, to help you try to translate the story to the screen?<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: It was little bit of a mixture. As soon as you see research, it kind of puts you off, because we\u2019re not at school anymore. This is absolutely my fun project, so I wasn\u2019t really researching.<\/p>\n You were talking about musicals early on, and this is an old-fashioned, turn to camera and sing, type of movie. I would say there\u2019s a line, and that\u2019s what musicals proper do, whereas musical films are on the other side of that line. That includes everything else like \u2018Grease\u2019 and \u2018A Hard Day\u2019s Night.\u2019 We\u2019re halfway between that.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t love the old-fashioned kind of musicals. I sometimes find them really boring, ever since I was a child, when I would watch them with my mum. I couldn\u2019t get into it when I was seven. I said, \u201cMum, I just can\u2019t get behind this.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: No ‘Fiddler on the Roof?’<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: I did watch \u2018Fiddler on the Roof\u2019-it\u2019s one of the gems. It\u2019s really long, but it\u2019s terrific, especially the first two hours. The first hour and a half of \u2018My Fair Lady\u2019 is just tremendous. The whole of \u2018Sound of Music\u2019 is the best. But I\u2019ve got a real soft spot for \u2018Jesus Christ Superstar.\u2019 That\u2019s almost like real opera. I think it\u2019s so great. So I do like some.<\/p>\n Q: Can you talk about who influenced you musically?<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: I didn\u2019t think about the music because I was letting the music be as natural as possible. I think I just let it out there. That\u2019s the kind of music I love and aspire to do, but I was watching a lot of films. I was leaning on films for different things and reasons, and not all of them were musical. I watched a lot of John Hughes films, as well as \u2018Fast Times at Ridgemont High,\u2019 \u2018Dazed & Confused\u2019 and \u2018American Graffiti.\u2019<\/p>\n Q: You mentioned the girl group sound that you wanted for the album and the film. What was it about that style from almost the sixties that you wanted to capture?<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: Well, that\u2019s the sound that I heard when the first song came along, the title track. For a while I thought it was going be a girl group record that I was making. But as the songs were being created, as it was clear that with Eve being the lead vocalist, I had to ditch that pretty quickly. It was a signal, it was a flag. The first song that came along, \u2018God Help the Girl,\u2019 was a full-on sixties girl group sound. <\/p>\n Q: Emily, since this is your first musical, would you do more musicals in the future?<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know! I feel like this is a pretty special, singular thing. I auditioned for \u2018Les Mis\u00e9rables\u2019 when it was being made into a film. It was like the most horrendous experience of my life. It was awful and just horrible. I don\u2019t know if that kind of proper, trained singing is really something that I want to do. I think we should probably do a sequel to this film, and then I\u2019ll do another musical.<\/p>\n Q: In terms of the psychology of the character, Emily, yours is definitely the darkest character in the film. Did you look into her psychology, or did you just rely on the script?<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: I don\u2019t have personal experience with eating disorders, but I have a lot of people that do. So I kind of feel that I have an understanding of that. But also, I feel like I get being in that place of only feeling calm and comfortable when you\u2019re being creative, and then otherwise feeling anxious and unsettled. I feel like I understand it. I have never been in that extreme place that Eve was in, especially being in the hospital, but I didn\u2019t really find it necessary to research or anything. I feel like I got her.<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: I think that\u2019s another reason we were so lucky to get you in the role, as it\u2019s almost like a fate thing. So many other people wouldn\u2019t have been able to get in there. You had that position of understanding, and you didn\u2019t have to create that. You just wear it, which is terrific.<\/p>\n Q: Stuart, do you see yourself directing more traditional narratives that aren\u2019t based in the musical experience?<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: I\u2019m not sure. <\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: Has anyone done a horror film that\u2019s genuinely terrifying, but also a musical?<\/p>\n Q: Maybe someone can make a musical version of \u2018Barbarella.\u2019<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: It\u2019s got musical moments, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: I think doing a musical of \u2018Barbarella\u2019 would be very difficult to top if you love the original. The thing is with musicals is the best ones are genuine. I\u2019ll wait to see what strong idea comes along. It\u2019d have to be a really bold idea for me to step out from behind the curtain of music. If music wasn\u2019t leading the thing, then people would really have the hatchets raised! (laughs)<\/p>\n Q: Do you have a favorite scene in the film?<\/p>\n EB<\/strong>: I really like the whole film, actually, which is a weird thing to say!<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: The way the song \u2018Come Monday Night\u2019 comes together is more like a pop video than a scene. But it takes my blood pressure right down when I watch. You have written that song because you want to be in that situation where beautiful women are singing this song and trying to relax you. They\u2019re saying, \u201cEverything\u2019s going to be okay.\u201d EB<\/strong>: The last song, \u2018A Down and Dusky Blonde,\u2019 is my favorite,. I don\u2019t know why, but it makes me emotional as I was singing it. I think it\u2019s one of my favorite songs to listen to it.<\/p>\n Q: Stuart, how different was it writing songs for other people to perform, as opposed to writing songs for yourself?<\/p>\n SM<\/strong>: It was a key moment when that first song came along and when I realized it was for someone else. It\u2019s changed my perspective on writing. It\u2019s an absolute dividing line in the life of the band, because I knew I\u2019d never go back. I almost had come to the end of certain things I wanted to say. I\u2019m not saying going back to the band is any easier. I don\u2019t write songs like I used to, I don\u2019t write as many songs as I used to, as they don\u2019t come so easy now for the group.<\/p>\n Written by: Karen Benardello Performers are often known for naturally exuding self-assurance and fearless when they promote themselves and their work to their audiences, as they’re always supposed to be confident in their ability to entertain. But when their frailties and vulnerabilities begin to take over and plague their courage to effortlessly present their heart-felt work, their creativity surely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":146136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,8,5,19],"tags":[7383,35124,35126,35125,35134],"class_list":["post-146131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-movies","category-music","category-music-interviews","tag-emily-browning","tag-god-help-the-girl","tag-hannah-murray","tag-olly-alexander","tag-stuart-lee-murdoch"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nQ: Do you have a favorite song that you performed?<\/p>\n
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