Zwierciadlo traduzione - 11-2019

Restless movement

He will be very talked about and not only for Agnieszka Holland's Mr. Jones that was given the Golden Lions in Gdynia, the first main role in a feature film in James Norton's career

by Magdalena Maksimiuk

You are an Englishman, did you know Gareth Jones before you played the character with Agnieszka Holland?

To tell the truth, when the script landed on my desk, I knew nothing about this young journalist named Gareth Jones. I didn't know much about Holodomor, the Great Famine in Ukraine either. Those were important discoveries for me.

And Holland, did you know her films?

Agnieszka was the most important thing in this project for me. I'm not talking out of courtesy. When we first talked on the phone, I was terribly in awe. 

I had watched her movies shortly before our conversation and discovered that many of them are world cinema classics

Did you stay in awe for a long time?

I thought Agnieszka would be severe as a director and as a person, but she soon turned out differently. Every day she came on the set smiling and optimistic, she hugged us, she shouted loudly through the door: "Good morning!". When we were shooting in Ukraine, it was really cold. We couldn't waste energy, so we usually sat quietly between shots. When Agnieszka appeared at the door, she often just started singing Polish songs. Then the rest of the Polish crew started to beat up the rhythm and then everybody sang loudly regardless of whether they knew the words or not! [He laugh]. We also had inspirational talks about Europe, Brexit, Trump, populism. Someone always took out a bottle of vodka, we could sit for hours like that.

No wonder you talked about such topics. "Mr. Jones "is a story about politics, lies and humble heroes like Jones. Your character is a young idealist, a journalist who left Britain in 1933 to visit the Stalinist USSR. He escaped the surveillance and saw for himself the effects of the famine in Ukraine. Extinct villages. Cannibalism. Violence. The Western countries learned about the Holodomor thanks to him.

We spent a lot of time on the set discussing whether people are still so gullible today. Agnieszka considers this matter pessimistically. She thinks

we are living dark times, like those just before the outbreak of the war. Maybe the catchwords have changed a bit, but we still live in a world of totalitarian, corrupt regimes, of governments that take advantage of the people's confusion to achieve their goals.

Did this movie open your eyes?

Apart the Brexit brawl which is closest to my heart, I didn't know what was going on in Hungary, Poland or Ukraine. While we were shooting in Ukraine, the war was going on. I walked the streets of Kiev and I saw mutilated men with my own eyes. Ukrainian friends explained to me that they were soldiers who came back from the front. 

Which places in Poland impressed you more?

I really liked Katowice. I stayed at the Monopol Hotel, exactly opposite the Jazz Bar. When I couldn't sleep or needed to relax, I went downstairs and melted into the crowd of guests. Of course, Warsaw impressed me too, but especially because of the popularity and esteem Agnieszka enjoys there. I joked with that she should run for presidenther while we were walking around Warsaw.

Was it difficult to shoot in Ukraine in winter? Can you tell us something more about the difficult conditions?

Besides the temperatures I'm not accustomed to, we wore period clothes specific to this region, coats made of very thin sheepskins. We did not have gloves. Agnieszka and the whole team wanted everything to looked most credible and true. Of course, we had all the possible comforts, but there were still moments when it was really cold.

The real Gareth Jones and you are somewhat connected. 

You are of a similar age, both of you were educated at Cambridge.

I definitely share the need for movement with Gareth. My family and friends would agree that it's hard for me to sit still. Unfortunately I'm not so brave as he was. I don't know if I'd put my life at stake for the truth, if I'd be ready to sacrifice myself.

If you had the opportunity, what would you ask him?

In a very early phase of my preparation I realized that Gareth was in constant motion. He was like a boy, like a puppy who must move all the time to feel alive. He never rested. He never sat still. I was really running up to my neck in thick snow. Generally, I try to exercise regularly and take care of myself, but some moments of this movie were really extreme. Two minutes of that run and I was completely

exhausted [he laughs].

We know quite a lot about Gareth's travels, the people he met, the events he witnessed, but very little is known about his private life. If I could ask ask him one question only, I think I would like to know whether he was ever in love with someone. I'm afraid of the answer would be negative. In all books and articles I read, I only found one mention about a potential love, about a special girl. Was he searching for her, did he even think about her? For me, finding a partner in life is very important. I am a family type. My parents and sister support me very much, they give me a sense of belonging. Building a nest is one of my priorities. Career is important, but the thought of living a lonely life scares me. Gareth was rather a loner. He probably never built a strong connection someone special.

And how did it happen that you wanted to become an actor at all?

The attraction to acting began in my case quite early, when I was still in elementary school. When my friends came to play with me, I tried to make them act in the plays I wrote. I was really obsessed! They came to play soccer and each time I had a new text ready for them. They soon stopped coming and I forced my parents to play the audience [laughs]! However, I think it paid off.

Do you write all the time? Are you going to spend something?

For me, writing is the ultimate exposure of your sensitivity to the harsh assessment of others. In movies or on the stage, I have a character I can hide safely behind. When writing, I have no shield. I don't think I've yet found a shelter in my writings that would let me face criticism head on.

Soon we will see you in the awaited adaptation of "Little Women" directed by Greta Gerwig. The cast is really stellar - Meryl Streep, Laura Dern. Emma Watson. Timothée Chalamet. And you.

I still can't believe it. It's a great adventure for me.

Does it mean that you will move to Hollywood?

I don't think about moving to Hollywood yet. In "Little women" I play John Brooke, who meets one of the sisters played by Emma Watson. I spent a wonderful time while shooting this film. It was an amazing experience to be among such smart, talented, exceptional women. For the first time I was dealing with such a big and important project, with a huge budget. But it's only work after all. It was different from my other projects only because sometimes I sat in a corner and wrote to my mother that Meryl Streep was in the same room or that she had talked to me! [He laugh].

What impression did she make on you?

It was similar to Agnieszka Holland. I thought Meryl would be haughty, even a little intimidating. And it turned out that she is the opposite of this image. You can talk with her about absolutely everything, she is so open and warm. 

Anyway, it seems to me that everyone who has gone so far and has a stable professional situation know very well that the top is reserved only for those who are generous and give other people something of themselves. For those who can be supportive and provide advice. Meryl is like that, Agnieszka is like that.

I also recently had a Skype call with Steven Spielberg, and I had prepared myself for it as if I was going to war. I checked the link a million times, I practically forbade everyone to breathe, I provided myself with juice and water. And when the conversation came, Steven immediately asked me how I was doing, if everything was fine, we talked as if we already knew each other perfectly well. He immediately shortened the distance. I am convinced that this is why he is so successful.

(our translation from Polish)