Why Tim Roth was 'moved' by the script for Punch movie

12 March 2023

Tim Roth was "moved" by the script for 'Punch'.

Why Tim Roth was very moved by the script for Punch...

The 61-year-od actor played the part of Stan in the drama film that centres on a teenage boxer who is training under the watchful eye of his demanding and alcoholic father and admitted he was touched by the script - which was written by director Welby Ings - because his own dad suffered from substance abuse issues.

He told Under the Radar magazine: "My father was an alcoholic, and he had incredible PTSD from the Second World War, from fighting in that war when he was a child, when he was 17 through for five years. His journey into adulthood was under incredible stress. He saw things that he could never talk to us about. He self-medicated. Which was something I saw in my character.

The script also dealt with homophobia incredibly well. T

"That was something Welby knew of personally. Something I recognized from growing up as well. My gay friends, the ones who felt they could speak to me, suffered greatly. The ones who were more open suffered physically. It was a very difficult time. My father would tell me: “Remember who was in the death camps alongside the Jews. Homosexuals. The Romani community. And anyone that was ‘the other.’ Always remember that. And that there’s a chance it could come back.” And that’s still rampant. So I felt the script was very moving. "

The 'Pulp Fiction' star went on to add that his character "buries his feelings" but enjoyed that the "simple" drama filma ctually has a "complicated undertone.

He added: "My character buries his feelings, and has a complex relationship with his son. But he sees a way for his son to get out of the world they’re in and do something. Then, what’s central to the film: the buried sexuality of this boy, and how that emerges. There’s also a crossover into New Zealand’s Māori community. You have so many layers going on. As simple as it is — and I like that it’s simple — it is very, very complicated. So this script one of the ones you do for love, as opposed to keep the roof on. Immediately it was that.