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After developing the character over the course of time, were there a lot of things you wanted to change about the dialogue or the path of the story and did you then feel more possessive of the character?
No. You create this other person so you only talk about her objectively. You only talk about what Vera feels, not what I feel as an actress she should do. That’s the difference. The minute I would start imposing, then that’s not how it works. So you only talked about what she would feel, what she would do. And because we created her from the day she was born, we’ve got all her backstory and I know everything about her, that it was then easy then, really, to react the way she reacted. It seemed that’s the only way she could react.
A lot of people said, “Why didn’t she stand up for herself in the court?” 1950s, working class England, I mean those people didn’t have a voice. She wouldn’t have understood anything those people were saying in the court. Those words, never heard anything like it. That’s why we couldn’t have then said, “Oh, she needs a really good speech in the witness box.” It wouldn’t have been real and you know [Mike Leigh] does trade in reality quite heavily, I think.
What did you learn from this process about your own approach to the craft of acting?
To keep your own counsel, which is to get on with your own job, don’t worry about anyone else, what else is going on around you, and really focus on just what you are doing. And to apply that to other work has been invaluable to me. I’ve sort of been like that a bit myself.
I’ve done a lot of theatre, in a theatre situation actors make suggestions about other things and it’s different. But in film, you do have the opportunity… Those moments on film are very private and very focused, you know, if you’re doing a close-up. So it is easier to be single-minded. But Mike has such respect for everyone making the film. You know he’s not a, “Oh, my lovely actors.” He doesn’t indulge us in any way. He has such respect for his crew and they take all the time they need to get everything ready, as we take all the time we need.
He’s very disciplined about being in character and being out of character. So you don’t take it home with you. When you’re out of character, you talk about it with Mike as we’re talking now. Saying, “I think Vera does this, that and the other,” rather than being Vera all the time. It would be a nightmare. It taught me to sort of just put the character where she needs to be and look at it objectively, and look at the work like that. Not get in any way indulgent about it. Which is very healthy, I think.
Were you surprised at all in this pro-Bush America that a film that deals with abortion would get nominated?
Absolutely! We are all surprised and amazed and delighted that it’s up there. I also think, hopefully, the Academy's looking at – I’m trying to be objective now – as a good film, a good piece of filmmaking. Then you’ve got the added bonus of it being a subject that is very difficult for us all to deal with, and to look at. And to look at from all these different angles, which I don’t think it’s been looked at like that before. So I think it’s wonderful for the Academy to take this piece of work and embrace it in the way that it has, and the way the reviews have been so wonderful here for it. I know that Mike’s work is well respected here but this is absolutely the sort of subject that could have been, “Whoa, let’s get that over there and not talk about it anymore.”
We did come in under the wire, which is rather nice. I think it snuck up on people. And even though all the reviews, understandably, have to give away everything, I think people are still affected when they see the film. I think they get very emotional about it even though they know what’s going to happen, they know what it is. I think that’s his craft of really getting to know that family because you really care about what happens to them, their reaction to this trauma.
What is the legal status of abortions in England now?
It was made legal in 1967 and we haven’t got the threat of what’s happening here. It’s not as hot an issue as it is here.
Did you know a lot about the issue prior to making this movie?
No, not at all. I felt like I was on a degree course for all those months. But also, I would only research what she would know so I didn’t look at anything else, just only what she would know. And that’s what we all did, otherwise you’re bringing too much information to it. We had a lot of things. We had the 50s to research, we had the war to research. We had the way people spoke, the way people ate. It was a fulltime job for those 10 months.
