Spooky sequel The Woman In Black: Angel Of Death is out to buy this week. One of the noteworthy aspects on the disc is an interview with Jeremy Irvine, the film’s male lead and an up-and- comer who is being watched with great interest.
THN parted the ether for a chat with Jeremy about the world of Gothic horror, his surprising personal connection to the character and what it’s like to step through the infamous doors of Hammer Studios…!
THN: Tell us a bit about your character in the film.
Jeremy Irvine: I play Harry. He is, or he appears to be, an RAF bomber pilot… but like all the characters in the film he has his own ghosts and demons, and isn’t quite who he appears to be. At the beginning he’s like the archetypal young hero airman, but then all is not quite what it seems.
What was it about the project that drew you in?
The Woman In Black is a story that I’d grown up with, and haunted me I guess as a kid. I got offered the script, and like a lot of sequels you go into it thinking: ‘Is this going to be as good as the first one?’ Then I finished the last page and thought: ‘That’s fine!’ I was also a big fan of (director) Tom Harper… he’d worked on Peaky Blinders and stuff like that. The Woman In Black has now become part British literature and theatre – to be a part of that was really cool.
Did Tom Harper do anything to create a creepy atmosphere on set as you were working?
We worked with a lot of kids, and he wouldn’t tell them when the Woman In Black herself was on set. I never met the Woman in her make up, I met the actress playing her (Leanne Best). So that was kept very separate. He wanted the kids to be genuinely scared, and they were certainly in some creepy places. I was loving it, ‘cos I was with eight kids who were like little minions, and they were playing games and chilling out with Phoebe Fox (who plays lead character Eve) and stuff. They were trying to scare everyone else!
Sounds fun! Now, Hammer Films have been in the news recently due to the sad death of Sir Christopher Lee. What was it like entering that world, as it still seems to be a much-loved horror brand?
It’s an honour to be part of something like that. Again, they’re something that I grew up with. To get to be a Hammer Horror hero… yeah, it was a privilege! I think the success of it so far just goes to show it’s still very prevalent today.
I suppose some would see it as an old-fashioned sort of horror film compared to the more extreme examples you see now?
Yes, there’s something very British about the film. It’s not all blood and gore, and girls in bikinis running around getting their heads chopped off. There’s something a bit classier about their stuff.
Of course, girls in bikinis getting their heads chopped off has its place!
Would I rather have seen Phoebe Fox running round in a bikini? Yeah, of course! But you know, I didn’t have final approval on the script. (Laughs)
Are you a big fan of the horror genre?
I like anything where it’s doing more than just trying to scare you. The first time I saw The Sixth Sense it made me cry, and I think that’s beautiful. Where you can get a film that at the same time is very scary and very moving. And The Others for example, with Nicole Kidman… there’s something really incredible to me about the fact we all know how films are made, we all know they’re not real, but they can still make us feel such extreme emotions. That we have to turn off the TV, or hide behind the sofa. That’s why I love film in general, not just horror movies.
Your character as you mentioned was an RAF bomber pilot. Did you have to do much research for that side of the role?
I did, but it’s my hobby. I’ve always been interested in that period of history, I write about it in my spare time and collect Second World War, First World War bits and bobs. So it wasn’t really extra work to do that! It’s such a well-documented piece of history… there’s a wealth of stuff to draw on, and personal accounts.
What sort of writing do you do around the subject?
I’m working with two production companies at the moment on a couple of documentaries, which I can’t quite talk about yet! But it looks like they’re going ahead in the next few months. And I also wrote a little bit for one of Michael Morpurgo’s books about a First World War fighter pilot. (Irvine played the lead in the movie adaptation of the author’s War Horse.) It’s my little nerdy hobby in my spare time!
What have you got coming up next?
The next movie I’ve got coming out is called Stonewall, directed by Roland Emmerich, all about the gay rights revolution, which I’m very excited about. There’s another movie called Fallen, which is another one of these “Young Adult” movies, which is a slightly new direction for me. I saw the movie the other day, and it was pretty exciting! And I’m making a couple more films in England, which haven’t quite been announced yet. Two more in the UK… I haven’t actually worked in England since The Woman In Black, so it will be nice to be back on home soil!
The Woman In Black: Angel Of Death is out to own on Blu-ray and DVD. Check out our review here. Read more from Jeremy here.
Pingback: Interview with Jeremy Irvine (The Hollywood News) | DAMNAMBULANCE