The Picture Journal

Festival Diary: Arnold Oceng

We spoke to Arnold Oceng at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) about A United Kingdom, in which he appears alongside David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. What aspects of A United Kingdom do you think highlight contemporary society’s growth with respect to race since the time at which it is set as well as its invariance? The main aspect highlighted which shows growth in contemporary society in my view is that we as people are more diverse and multi-cultural, and this is mirrored and shown by the increase of people with mixed heritage and ethnicities. Seretse and Ruth embody true love and personify…

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Festival Diary: Taron Egerton

We spoke to Taron Egerton at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) about Sing, in which he appears alongside Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughey & Reese Witherspoon. Sing features a failing theatre attempting to portray ‘real talent from real life’, what is a moment from real life that you felt made for a stronger performance? I forgot the words to a song on stage once. Still makes me shiver. Valuable lesson in being prepared! What do you think is the best (or your favourite) animated or voiced performance of all time? Toy Story had such a strong impression on me as a child.…

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Festival Diary: Lyndsey Marshal

We spoke to Lyndsey Marshal at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) about Trespass Against Us, in which she appears alongside Michael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson. From what is available to research suggests, Trespass Against Us portrays the decline of a small-time crime family. Why do you think that the symbiosis of crime and family are so often so effective at commenting on one another in film? I think a family set up can provide you with a claustrophobic, pressure-cooker environment. You can see how an act of crime reverberates within a group. And how that effects individuals members and depending…

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Rose Leslie

What is something you wish took less time? I wish blow drying your own hair took less time. What subject or idea has your perspective shifted or expanded the most from because of a film? It doesn’t have to be one you worked on. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. My perspective on our universe and planet has shifted dramatically, I find it utterly compelling and fascinating. From a fan perspective, what film, television show, or album did you anticipate the most or for the longest? Bear’s Den’s newest album, Red Earth & Pouring Rain – I was longing for it to…

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Lucy Chappell

Who was your first favourite actor? Dakota Fanning. I watched Hide and Seek and War of the Worlds over and over when I was 12 and I remember thinking, “I want to do that’. Act twisted and run away from aliens. I wanted to experience those things. I made up a lot of my own stories when I was younger and would act them out by myself, but after watching her I realised you could do it on a much bigger scale, and it was a job. It was a done deal after that. What was the last book you…

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Kyle Soller

What’s the best idea you’ve had that you found out already existed? I’m not sure you could call most of the ideas that have gone through my head “the best” of anything… What’s your trick for remembering people’s names? Alliteration. What book or movie took you the most tries to start and finish? Probably a curriculum book when I was at school. I remember Great Expectations being particularly uninviting. When was the closest you ever came to breaking character onstage? I was in a play and the guy playing the lead was, at a critical moment for his character, supposed…

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Lucy Boynton

If you had to pick any job in film other than actor, what position would you pick? I would definitely be a casting director. It’s always been the production element that I’ve been most interested in. I cast every book I read. You star in the upcoming coming-of-age film Sing Street. If you could form a band composed of any musicians who would you pick and what would they play?  I would have Paul McCartney and John Lennon on vocals, and although it feels sinful to tamper with their unmatchable harmonies I’d love to have Bowie in there too. Jimi…

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