Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A BAFTA-winning, Oscar-nominated production designer known for Les Miserable, The King's Speech, and Call the Midwife.
On the island
Eight records
The keepsakes
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:33Do you still get a kick when you see your work on screen?
Um I never really get a kick'cause I'm always so nervous. I kind of I watch it without actually looking at any of the actors or really concentrating on the story for at least five times. And I squirm constantly going, Oh my god, that rock lock's in the wrong place. Look at the vase. Oh god, I got that wrong. So I am a perfectionist really, hopefully, and all I see is the flaws.
Presenter asks
2:01Why do you still choose to work in TV, given that you have your pick of jobs these days?
I bother because I don't really think it is the poor cousin, especially not now. And do you know what? I could have done fifty lay mizes and some ginormous films, but everybody I know goes, Oh, God, call the midwife, and that's all I'm known for. And it's not a sort of ego trip, it's genuinely, I think, if you can design, you should be open to designing everything and anything at a certain stage. But I just love telling stories, be they on film, theatre, television, or even I illustrate a lot, even if they're in a book.
Presenter asks
10:42What about your relationship with your father? Did you ever trace him or did he come and find you?
Yeah. Absolutely disappeared, don't know where, went to a party and never came back. … Like any teenager, you go a bit wonky at a certain stage looking for… I don't know whether it's reasons to be melancholy or you are melancholy. I could never really work that out. Where actually it didn't impact on my life in any way. And uh my mum got together with an a remarkable man who they've been married an incredibly long time now, and he was a great figure in our lives.
The book
The Complete Works of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
I'm an incredibly fast reader, so I thought the the collection of full works of Charles Dickens would be the only thing with small enough writing, enough pages to keep me busy.
The luxury
a lifetime supply of self-firing clay
I would probably try and attempt to make a really great cathedral and find God to get me through the next few months.
Presenter asks
18:53When was the first time that you worked with Mike Leigh?
Well, having worked in theatre, I'd done quite a lot. And suddenly he was looking for a theatre designer, and I was suggested by th this great designer who'd been a tutor of mine. So I went to do a play for him called Smelling a Rat and was just blown away by how he worked. The storytelling device of kind of making it up as you went along just appealed to everything in me.
Presenter asks
23:21Given that you're the mother of two daughters and you have incredibly long days on location, how did you manage all that in the early days?
Yes. And what I've done is refused to go away anywhere long term. I've done one job where I went to Europe because I knew I could get back quite quickly, but it didn't really work and I sobbed myself to sleep most nights. And so that's why you asked me about television and film. I've had to duck and dive and take work where I can get it and have made sure that I've stayed close to home.
Presenter asks
30:41You've been Oscar nominated three times and nominated for BAFTAs numerous times. Does that public professional recognition matter to you?
It doesn't matter, but it's always really nice. But I put it into perspective because most of my friends are nurses and kind of mental health workers and things like that, and they don't get prizes and it just seems rather unfair. We all play this game where you say, Oh, you've been dropped into a disaster village, what would you do? And all of them are busy setting up clinics and building a bridge, and then they all look at me and laugh and go, Well, you just paint it blue. Well, I get at least I get a price.
“Um I never really get a kick'cause I'm always so nervous. I kind of I watch it without actually looking at any of the actors or really concentrating on the story for at least five times. And I squirm constantly going, Oh my god, that rock lock's in the wrong place. Look at the vase. Oh god, I got that wrong.”
“I think if you can design, you should be open to designing everything and anything at a certain stage. But I just love telling stories, be they on film, theatre, television, or even I illustrate a lot, even if they're in a book.”
“Like any teenager, you go a bit wonky at a certain stage looking for… I don't know whether it's reasons to be melancholy or you are melancholy. I could never really work that out. Where actually it didn't impact on my life in any way.”
“I love a bit of squalor, and I think they're both difficult in their own ways, but I would always prefer to reflect the dark side of humanity.”
“I always feel slightly on the outside. And I think that is driven by the fact that I'm still looking at those boxes. I'm still creating little worlds.”
“Most of my friends are nurses and kind of mental health workers and things like that, and they don't get prizes and it just seems rather unfair. … they all look at me and laugh and go, Well, you just paint it blue.”