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HEEL TURN
Subjected to a homophobic attack, drag artist Jules (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) exacts a unique revenge when he chances upon his tormentor Preston (George MacKay) in Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s London-set Femme. Speaking at the Berlin Film Festival before the SAG strike, MacKay (1917) and Stewart-Jarrett (Candyman) tell Teasers about one of the year’s most thought-provoking thrillers…
Femme is a powerful watch. What was it like to make? George MacKay: It was really emotional but thrilling. There was a real energy. It was a very young crew, as well. And the whole film, the volume is turned up to 11. And it’s also very real, and we didn’t have a huge amount of time to make it. So we just threw ourselves at it. The whole thing was a sprint in a really thrilling way.
After Jules is beaten by George’s character, Preston, he undertakes risky revenge. Why? Nathan Stewart-Jarrett: Jules wants to take something back. There’s something taken from him. And he does it in such a way that doesn’t bring him happiness. I don’t think I believe in revenge. I think I believe it in theory, but actually, I wouldn’t end up doing it.
What was it like becoming Preston? GM: I’m not particularly aggressive in my day-to-day… so it was like having a big shout. You know when you just roar, and it actually feels really good? I couldn’t really feel like him until I had my hair shaved, until I wore the costume, until I had the jewellery.
‘London is still very dangerous for certain people at certain times’
NATHAN STEWART-JARRETT
How was it playing in drag? NS-J: It was very painful [in heels] – my feet hurt! There was a point where I was like, ‘I can’t take them off because if I take them off, they’re not going back on!’ But it really, really informed who Jules was. The heels, the nails, the wig, the make-up – the movie starts with that ritual of putting on and becoming.
GM: It’s about drag as much as anything and about performance and identity and creating big personas, performative personas, to then live – very realistically – inside of. And that’s what I mean, in terms of it being up to 11. For both Preston and Jules, the masculine and feminine personas that they’ve created and explore are big.
What does the film say about homophobia?
NS-J: It’s still everywhere. That is part of what the movie is saying… that people exist in their own worlds and are very safe in those worlds. On the football terraces, a gay bar, a sauna, wherever that would be. But they step outside of those worlds, that context, and there are dangers. And I think London, arguably, is one of the most progressive cities in the world, but it’s still very dangerous for certain people at certain times. JAMES MOTTRAM
FEMME IS IN CINEMAS ON 1 DECEMBER. SIGNATURE ENTERTAINMENT