On Friday, 6 March, we made our way to the Glasgow Film Festival for the opportunity of interviewing the cast and director of Think of England. We were lucky enough to attend the red carpet premiere of the first-ever UK screening of the film. With the buzzing atmosphere of the festival and our questions written out in a reporter’s pad, we chatted with Richard Hawkins, Natalie Quarry, and Ollie Maddigan.
Think of England is an independent British film, depicting a new and challenging angle of the Second World War. The film centres on a long-standing historical myth of Winston Churchill commissioning the British Government to make a pornographic film, intending to improve morale on the front lines. We follow a group of actors and filmmakers as they attempt to make this pornographic film while grappling with the dark realities of the war.
Richard Hawkins, writer and director of Think of England, enthusiastically spoke to us about the roots of this film. Expressing his creative journey, the director told us that he had been trying to write this film for years, yet had not been able to complete until recently. Dealing with nudity, power dynamics, and consent, we wanted to know how this translated to his directions on set and what challenges he encountered along the way. The director also said, “It’s about the history of cinema and moral code unfolding.”
He stated, “I hate the term meta, but… it was a film about making a film.”
We also asked about his challenges with working with such a rich ensemble of actors. Richard said, “I really wanted everyone’s story to be complete,” especially as he explained that the film followed the full-fledged lives of seven different characters. Adding to this, the film was shot in three different aspect ratios and four different formats, all in the impressive crunch time of 21 days. Hawkins explained that “we talked it through a lot,” summarising the very experience of the film.
We then had the pleasure of speaking to the film’s leading actress, Natalie Quarry. Despite being known for her role in the British cultural classic Call The Midwife, this was her first venture into feature films, and we were excited to cover such a brave debut. We first asked Natalie if she preferred acting in period pieces, as both Think of England and Call the Midwife rely heavily on their historical settings. Natalie jokingly told us “I’ve been told I have a period-drama face”, before describing how historical clothing and characterisation helps to “ground” her performances—“You learn so much about the character and what their, physical, tactile experience is”.
In Think of England, Natalie plays Holly Spurring, an actress starring in adult films commissioned for the British army. We asked Natalie about the provocative nature of the role and how she tackled the powerful subject matter; “It’s not the most easy film to watch,” she said, “It encourages the audience to make their own decisions and question how they feel… I don’t know if everyone will like it the same way, I’m anxious about that being my first experience of being in a film.”
The thematic concerns, especially in the context of Natalie’s character, deal with the politicisation of not just sex itself but specifically women’s bodies. We were interested to hear how Natalie views the film’s themes within modern discourse, especially with recent discussions about the use of AI in film and pornography. Natalie said, “A lot of the conversations among my peers and me about what’s going on mirror the conversations that I’ve had around this film.” She continued, “With so many conversations about what’s real and what isn’t real, I hope people connect, and I hope it helps people.”
Natalie also clarified about themes of consent in the film, “‘The difference between my experience and Holly’s experience is that I chose to do the film, had intimacy co-ordinators, everything was planned, I’m fully consenting to everything that’s happening. That makes my experience so much easier and more exciting.”
Image by Iga Suszyńska for The Student
We also spoke to newcomer Ollie Maddigan. Think of England was Ollie’s film debut. However, he’s best known for his one-man play The Olive Boy, which debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe.
We asked Ollie about challenges in transitioning from theatre to screen acting, and he expressed, among other things, that the volume at which he spoke caused some commotion on their first takes on set. “The camera can pick it all up, so you don’t need to show as much, you just need to feel it,” he said, telling us about the lessons he learned from this transition.
He also touched upon the immediacy of theatre performances, stating that “if you mess up, that’s it… that’s done,” alluding to a pressure being lifted off his shoulders when acting on camera, as multiple takes gave him more liberty to experiment with his performance as well as make mistakes.
When asked about working with an ensemble, especially after The Olive Boy’s one-man ensemble, Ollie spoke enthusiastically about his co-stars: “They’re all my best mates and taught me a lot, and they’re all gonna be huge.”
After jokingly commenting on The Student’s praise for his incredible performance at the Fringe, we asked Maddigan the most pressing question of all—his favourite Edinburgh spot. “There was a really good burrito place… it was like open until 6 am, and no matter where I was or what I needed, I knew I could get a burrito.” Truly an Edinburgh staple and highly approved by Maddigan, we are yet to find what burrito place he is talking about. This might be our next endeavour as a pair of writers: finding the elusive 6 am burrito place.
It was an absolute privilege to speak to the wonderful minds behind Think of England. The film has received high praise since the premiere for its originality, boldness and skilfully crafted performances, and is definitely one of the highlights of this year’s Glasgow Film Festival.
Image provided by GFF for press purposes.