by Orlando Parfitt, IGN UK
JESSICA Hynes (nee Stevenson) talks about appearing in Son of
Rambow, the appeal of the characters and the '80s, and her
own career, including some forthcoming projects...
UK, April 4, 2008 - Jessica Hynes (formerly Stevenson) has
been involved in some huge projects in the past few years,
including roles in Shaun of the Dead, Doctor Who and as the
voice of Mafalda Hopkirk in Harry Potter and the Order of the
Pheonix. But she will always be best known as Daisy, one of
the pop-culture obsessed tenants of mad Marsha Klein's house
in Spaced. Her latest role sees her drop the comedy to play
the deeply religious mother of Will Proudfoot in the
critically acclaimed Son of Rambow. It turns out she's
worried with good reason, as her son is trying to recreate
highly dangerous scenes from Stallone's iconic actioner.
IGN caught up with Hynes to talk about the film.
IGN: Tell us about your character and how you approached playing her?
Jessica Hynes: I play Mary, the mother of Will - the
'Son of Rambow'. I'm at that difficult time of my
life: my husband's died and I'm left holding the baby.
I've go to look after my mother and my two children and
I've been folded back into the Plymouth Brethren [an
ultra-religious Christian sect] and I'm tormented because
Will is not doing everything he should be doing. I can't
control him and it's a difficult situation, but she's
sweet and lovely woman and I like her a lot.
IGN: So how did you become involved?
JH: I think firstly they thought I'd be good for it;
that I looked right for the part, but also because it
was just such a great script with original ideas and
wonderful characters with the relationship between the
boys. Honestly I just absolutely loved it.
IGN: Did the film's success at Sundance surprise you?
JH: No, not at all, not after I saw the cast and
crew screening. When I saw it for the first time, I
thought: "This is a classic, this is it - I've done
it. I'm in the most amazing film!"
IGN: What were director Garth Jennings and the kids like on set?
JH: Well Bill [Milner - who plays Will] was fantastic,
a wonderful actor, very talented, very sweet but also
naturally very good, really knew what was required of
him. I think they [the kids] were very inspired by
Garth - he guided them very well, and to be honest it's
always lovely working with kids. Garth himself was like
a child, but not in a bad way! I mean in his enthusiasm
for doing this - he was like a kid in a candy shop. He
was really inspiring and obviously just so thrilled to
be making it.
IGN: You're probably the most serious character in
this comedy - is that the route you want your career to take?
JH: No! No! Absolutely not, the opposite. It's hard
finding roles for women that are funny - I find I have
to write them myself. That's why I'm writing a couple
of things now - one's less comic but they're both
pretty funny because that's what I want to do and
that's what I love to do. Someone asked me recently
"what films and what actors and characters inspired you"
and I was saying "I can't really think because there
isn't any iconic female comedy characters," I mean,
the best I could think of was Dianne Keaton, and
even her sort of roles are very limited.
"To be honest what I want to go back to doing is, you
know, back into doorframes and fall over! I see myself
as quite a goofy, comedy character and people don't
necessarily see women like that. But on the other
hand, believe me, to play the mother in a film like
this a pleasure. I am so lucky to be in this film and
I love it. But I hope I will get a chance to do
some more comedy!