Music, Style & Culture

Interview: Weekend Director & Stars

We catch up with Andrew Haigh, Tom Cullen and Chris New to talk about their romantic drama.

One of the best films we saw at this year's London Film Festival, we're thrilled that Weekend gets a UK theatrical release on 4th November.

British writer and director Andrew Haigh has enjoyed remarkable word-of-mouth success in the US, following the romantic drama's premiere at South By South West in Austin, Texas. A beautiful, witty and honest drama that follows a one night stand between Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen (Chris New), it's an unexpectedly touching and intimate romance. Read our review here.

We caught up with relative film newcomers Andrew, Tom and Chris during the LFF for a long, highly enjoyable interview. In between classically trained Chris's plans to "remake all the Shakespeare plays as porn plays", and award ceremony gossip (Andrew had a mortifying moment in France, when his "special mention" was mistaken for a win thanks to a lack of translation), we got down to the business of the film's 18 certificate, sexual politics, and why John Grant features so heavily on the soundtrack.

Why did you decide to have the world premiere over at Austin's SXSW festival?
Andrew: It was a timing thing, partly, as we missed the Sundance deadline, and it was the next big American festival. Also, I'm a big fan of all the films that came out of that festival a few years ago, and the kind of films they show - low-budget American indie films. I wanted our film to be seen as part of that, as opposed to a gay niche film. It helped to enable the film to be taken a bit more seriously. We picked up distribution the second day we were there, so if we played somewhere too small that wouldn't have happened.

Were you shocked by the reaction?
Andrew: These two weren't here as SXSW don't pay for anyone to go. It was weird as no one had seen the film, not even these two - just me and a few execs. It was scary.
Chris: We got a good reaction, and in my head, I thought that would be it. Then we got a good reaction somewhere else, and I thought, well, we've had a good run. Then we came out in New York, and it went really well, and it just keeps on going.

What were your first impressions of the script when you received it?
Tom: Intially, for the first audition, we only got the first ten pages. I remember being really impressed. You know a good script from the first three, and I thought it was brilliantly written, and I immediately saw this outline of Russell - his contradictions, and what drives him. He was so alien from anything I am as a person, I just wanted to fill that shape, and try that character on. The second audition I had 20 pages, and it was so frustrating - I wanted more! I had other offers of better paid jobs at the time, but there was no way I was going to do anything other than Weekend.
Andrew: We did one round, and I created pairs out of about 50 people, Chris came in the second round. I put them in pairs, as the film is about two people sparking off each other. Seeing these two... [cue hysterical discussion about the mini-rolls the previous actor left behind].
Tom: I remember the first audition was completely improvised, and you know the scene where [Chris] is recording me? I said something about kissing my chest and then kissing my hand, and in the second round it was in the script!
Andrew: I stole everything! That's the best thing about writing a script - you can continually write it. You start shooting and can rewrite bits to make it as fresh and spontaneous as you can.
Chris: It was strange when I finally watched it, as I didn't know what was going to be in the film, as we shot different versions of every scene.
Andrew: Even when we were shooting, I always knew which scene was going to be used. Even if it's not going to be used, if you do this as it sets up the scene that's about to be shot.
Tom: It was the most pleasurable experience I've had on films. That's when the best work happens. The three of us went on this journey together.
Andrew: A lot of directors hire actors and they don't trust them to do what you've hired them to do! Some people get so obsessed with what the shot has to be like. I just let it happen. It was about trying to make it feel like this is actually happening, as it's a very honest film. It's not about aesthetics, it comes from a very human place, rather than a visual.
Chris: Everyone talks about our relationship [Chris and Tom's] but it's really about the three of us. [Andrew] said we could talk about anything, that we could discuss any idea, any notion, any thoughts. Being given that permission is like being given therapy. You never get judged, or shot down. That's normally what happens with directors. You give them an idea, and they go, 'mmmm, not really', then they go and do it! They reject you then steal it! All of us gave up a lot of control to have trust in each other.



Despite it being a tender romance, you've landed an 18 certificate because of drug use and the depiction of semen. Was that something you considered on the set, or doesn't it bother you?
Andrew: The rating doesn't bother me. What does bother me is the warning they put on, which is hard sex, hard drugs and hard sexual something. Which makes it sounds as if it's a bunch of people fucking and taking heroin! I think it's the hard sex, which makes it sound like it's porn, but it's actually quite tender. That annoys me, as you have to put it on the poster, and on the DVD. It's a false representation of what the film is. If they had been, like, tender sex, that would've been fine, but it's the "HARD SEX" [laughs].
Tom: People say to me in interviews that the sex scenes are quite graphic, when actually they're not. What people find too graphic is that it's tender and incredibly real, and that makes it graphic as it makes it incredibly voyeuristic.
Chris: It's not Shortbus, where you're watching stuff coming in and out of holes.
Tom: It's not 9 Songs, is it?
Andrew: Britain is so Victorian... we still have these repressions. Just calling it hard sex - what does that even mean? It's just a stupid term. They've not asked for any cuts, but why do you need to warn people. The 18 is enough - you've got to be 18. I kind of want to go back and watch other films which have the same levels of heterosexual sex and see if they've got the same warning. At least they didn't call it hard gay sex, which would've been offensive. There was a discussion when I was writing the film, and I didn't want to have real sex, but I wanted it to feel as real as possible. If you tone down the elements it's not the same film - it's something with Drew Barrymore.
Chris: All I remember from the sex scene is you [Andrew] having a towel over your head, desperately trying not to look. Weirdly, it felt more important to have a closed set during the verbal scenes.
Andrew: There are always so many bloody people on a film set, and you're trying to capture these intimate moments between two people. If there are hundreds of people milling around, it just strips any intimacy from what you're doing. Any scene we were doing, it was 'do you need to be in the room - if you don't, would you mind stepping outside'. It's not about being an arsehole. It was always about trying to make it feel real. You feel bad, as there are so many people working on the film, but you're not letting them see any filming.

There's a review quote that says this is perfect if you've had enough of sex as politics. Would you agree?
Andrew: It's not a political film, but you can't help but deal with political issues if you are a minority. I'm not trying to make a grand political statement, but when you're gay, politics becomes a part of your everyday life, fundamentally from a young age. A lot of films can feel like you're having a lecture - they're just like you! [laughs] That's just not interesting. I wanted to start it so you see it's definitely about two gay men - they're in a club, go down that shit gay cinema cliché of meeting in a gay bar. As you got to know the characters, I wanted it to become less important that they're men - they're still talking about gay issues.
Chris: They only talk about issues that are relevant. Any argument Glen puts forward is from what's in his head. It's not an author's argument - it's always a character argument.
Andrew: It's always been a character study wrapped up in a romantic drama. we spent a long time talking about their background. That's why, whether you're gay or straight, you can watch and say, 'I understand that', as it's character first, rather than sexuality.
Tom: When I first read it, it never occured to me that I would be playing a gay character, as it was just a beautiful love story that happened to be about two men.
Andrew: A bland character, no one understands. In a weird way, the more specific you are about a character, the more relatable it becomes.
Chris: Like Bambi.



Why was the film set in Nottingham?
Andrew: I don't want to see a film about gay people living in Soho and going to bars. So boring. You forget, not everyone lives in London, and they have a nice life! I like that you don't see them talking about going to London. I really didn't want it to be set there, and there was some money we could get from shooting in the East Midlands. Nottingham's a good sized city. You can believe that there would be a gay community, that Glen could work in a gallery. But that it's not London. And they don't work in TV, on the Lorraine show [laughs].

You've worked in editing on epic action films (Black Hawk Down, Gladiator), so it's ironic that your film has such beautiful long takes. What did you learn in your time as editor?
Andrew: When you work in editing, you realise that people over-edit to death, and ruin perfectly good scenes. For me, I want to watch things unfold, and choose what I want to look at, rather than being forced. You have to engage more, when you're not led through the film by editing. It takes a bit of time, but you start to invest in it more.
Tom: You have your own relationship with the characters when you are the camera.

Can you talk about John Grant's involvement on the soundtrack?
Andrew: I was a big fan of John Grant, and I had met him as I tracked him down and told him I wanted to use a couple of songs. He's a big, burly bearded man, and he's gay, and his songs are about men, but he doesn't fit a stereotype. There's such longing in his songs, which is why I wanted to use his music. The end song ['I Wanna Go To Marz'] is about him growing up and eating chocolate ice-cream. Nothing about 'two men love each other'. He's seen the film. When I was in Austin, he was playing as well, and I saw him do 'Jesus Hates Faggots' in a baptist church! The audience were like, huh? It was really weird!