- This is a very challenging role of Zoe -, she's playing a character who is not sure who she is, so how did you find working with her. And how comfortable was Zoe with the role that she was given?
Since the beginning she connected with the part - it’s a balance as you have to find where she connects with it and then you have to work at bringing life to the character.
There was also a physical metamorphosis as we cut her hair, she had really long hair, and that was kind of a shock to her. The first time I met her I told her the whole story and the difficult stuff that she would have to do and so she knew it all and we made that deal together. So we were really clear about everything.
Plus the movie is easier to explain to a child that it is to an adult because the movie is not about psychology and the adults on keep asking why? And the movie is not about why she is doing it but how she is doing it - all the children weren’t asking why?
She really connected to the facts that she was mistaken for a boy and just goes for it and that made sense to her because she is a child and she still plays pretending. The movie was fair to childhood in the writing and that is why I was able to get the kids on board and that they felt committed.
- Did you do any rehearsing with the actors?
None, none at all. It went so fast we didn’t have time to rehearse. We shot the film in twenty days which is really fast, my first film we shot it in thirty six days, so you don’t have time to rehearse on set because you are filming two or three scenes in one day and the kids don’t have the rights to do long days of work. So it was all about the moment - so no rehearsal
- As you say you shot the film in under three weeks so what directorial challenges did you face making this movie?
Well the challenge of getting what you want, because the movie was really accurate and really written, in a very short amount of time - it is a challenge but it is also a blessing because it is all about energy. So I had to work on the energy, especially with children because they are children you can’t share the vision with them just the moment.
So I had to be in the moment without any distance and the challenge was to keep in mind the whole thing but still be in the moment and always be committed.
- Do you like working on such a tight timescale and under that much pressure does that work well for you?
Yes it did work really well - but I suppose I did do it as a strategy to avoid pressure and avoid the questions of this being the second film and feeling legitimate or not. So it was all a big strategy that I had built to beat pressure - but I don’t know if I will do it again as it was a one of a kind experience.
I wrote and built a project around the idea that it was going to be a very short time scale and if you build it on purpose then it is ok - you are not trying to fit something big into a small box you have built the box regardless so it’s well balanced. But I don’t know if I will do it again I guess you have to have the right story.
- And how have you found the reaction to the movie so far?
In France it has been amazing as the film has been a hit at the box office - far more than what I had dreamt of actually so it’s been a great surprise. It is now going to be part of the school programme and it’s going to be shown in schools which is amazing - politically it’s amazing.
It has also been bought in thirty countries to, I guess, it’s going international and I am amazed - it is a small miracle.
- Is there any message that you want the movie to convey because there will be a lot of youngster going through all of those emotions that we see in the film?
There is not a message but several messages and I guess what I really wanted was for the movie to be open so that everyone could connect and everyone could have their own hypothesis about what the message it.
And it’s really interesting because some people think that it’s a transsexual kid while others say it’s just a phase that she is going through - and that was really the point as the movie talks about everyone’s childhood. I think the fact that the movie has layers and everyone can connect with the child that they were and they are.
- Your debut movie Water Lilies brought you a lot of international attention so did you feel any weight of expectation on the second project?
Yeah, definitely. And once again that is why I did it like that - but it’s cool to be expected. But it’s easier to say now that the movie has been release. I am relieved (laughs).
- Finally what's next for you?
I don’t know. I will be promoting the movie a lot around the world and then I hope I can go back to writing pretty soon - but I don’t know what I will be writing next; not yet.
Tomboy is out now
Read our review of Tomboy here
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw