No less than a week ago, English actor George MacKay walked away from the Scottish BAFTAs with the Best Actor award to his name, for his spine-chilling performance in For Those In Peril. He now returns in something a little more light-hearted, in Simon Sprackling’s Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson – and we had the pleasure of speaking to the gifted young actor.
Based on Chris England’s stage play, Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson takes place on the morning England were victorious in the Rugby World Cup final, beating Australia narrowly. MacKay recalls his own memories of the day, who his own sporting idols are – and he also discusses his future, and whether Hollywood may be on the cards…
Well I’ll start by saying congratulations on the BAFTA, you must have been thrilled?
Yeah thank you very much, I was chuffed, really chuffed. It’s cool. For Those in Peril got Best Feature Film too, which was fantastic for Paul (Wright). That’s all him, that’s his writing and his vision and style. What he does is so cool, so I’m glad it all came together well.
Anyway, to Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson… Are you a fan of rugby?
Yeah I am, at school a lot of my mates played rugby quite seriously. I played it too, so I was always surrounded by the rugby boys. I’m a Chelsea fan, that’s my first love, so there’s part of me that can’t deny footballing roots and loyalties, but that said, as far as international games go, you can’t beat anything other than rugby for entertainment in general. A good game of rugby is quite an amazing thing to behold.
Do you remember the 2003 World Cup Final this film is based upon?
I must say, I don’t remember the day too well. I remember watching it with friends and my main memory is just of the players and the celebrations. That year when Jonny Wilkinson got Sports Personality, I went down to the BBC with a few people from my school and we were in the crowd when all the stars were entering into the television centre, and I remember seeing all the rugby players coming off the coaches and I remember thinking they all had black eyes and limps, but were these man mountains. I remember being in awe of the sheer size of these people, especially as I was a bit younger then and much shorter. So that’s my main memory, the fan fare that was going with that great feeling of winning the World Cup.
From a personal level, what sporting memory of yours would you most like the chance to capture on the big screen?
Champions League final with Chelsea. That was a special one. But I also think the Rugby World Cup, having that footage played on set and also revisiting the game again, that Jason Robinson try… It gives you goosebumps every time. So I already feel lucky to have recreated that 2003 final – that’s one of the highlights for me. That and Chelsea winning the Champions League. That’s as good as it gets.
I’m not even a big rugby fan, but even I remember the 2003 final. That kick at the end…
Oh my God. You can still see it spinning and then him turning away with his arms in the air. Everyone knows those kind of moments that are just saved in slow motion forever.
In the film your character feels connected with Jonny Wilkinson – but who was your sporting idol?
When I was a young boy, Gianfranco Zola, number 25. He was always my favourite player growing up. Frank Lampard was another one. But reading into Jonny Wilkinson and watching videos of him, his work ethic is something that I think should be applied to any career that you do – he is truly amazing in the amount of hours and practise he puts in, and that’s a massive contributing factor to this success. It’s not just the talent, but his dedication. That’s something I took from him as well. It’s inspiring.
I imagine in your career you get the opportunity to meet so many esteemed actors and directors that you may be working with – but I remember Stephen Mangan was saying how nervous he was meeting his idol Ledley King. Would you feel similar if you met Zola, Lampard or Wilkinson? Do you admire them in a different way to how you do other actors?
I imagine you would do. With actors, if you meet somebody you really admire, there’s a connection in your craft, you both do the same job essentially, just on different levels, so there’s a level of understanding there. There’s more of a romanticism in meeting a sports star. My first dream as a kid was to play for Chelsea and England, and then when we won the World Cup, it was wanting to be good at rugby. I remember watching the Andy Murray final this year and it was so inspiring because sport is something so primal. It’s these two athletes putting their bodies on the line, hitting their heads against each other determining who is going to break first. That’s got such a romanticism to it, and I imagine if I met a true star of that world it would be pretty overwhelming.
Anyway, as for the film… It’s all pretty much set in just one room. How was that to shoot?
That’s one of the things that really appealed to me about it, that farcical element of it all being in this one room. It was nice to go back to the same place and have that consistency. The whole film was shot in four weeks so it never felt like we stopped really. Four weeks in that room twiddling your thumbs would have got a bit much, but with the pace that we were going, getting through the amount of dialogue we were a day, it passed very quickly. I’ve only got fond memories of the club.
Does this intimate setting breed a stronger camaraderie amongst the group?
I haven’t done any huge productions, and the camaraderie always seems to be there regardless, as it’s about the people rather than the budget behind it. That said, there definitely was more of a community feel, just having that smaller crew between us. There was less to each department and there was a more personable feel – and you can all fit in the one pub at the end of the week. So yeah there is definitely a closeness that comes from being on the same set every day. But that said, when you’re working in London, everyone goes back to their own home and they’re more in touch with their own lives, so the bubble is much more within the hours of the job, whereas when you’re on location with crews, you’re all marooned together somewhere.
The film is of course a comedy and very tongue-in-cheek, whereas For Those in Peril, for example, is a morbid, upsetting drama. Do the atmospheres on set change as a result of the genre at hand? Is there more of a jubilant ambiance when making a comedy?
There is something to be said in that the genre, or the tone and nature of the world you’re doing is definitely reflected on set – but for something like For Those in Peril, I had the best time making it, the best time working with Paul. It’s not so much that there was melancholy on set, but just more of a real focus and respect being paid to the scenes we were looking at. So when the cameras did turn on, there was a real concentration from everyone. Not to say that wasn’t the case with this, but with Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson it was more about keeping the energy up, so what’s required of you is a more playful camaraderie. Thinking of it now, every day there was seven of us on set in regards to the cast – but in For Those in Peril it just myself most of the time, so yeah it was different.
When For Those in Peril came out, it was on the very same day as How I Live Now and Sunshine on Leith, that must have been quite surreal?
Yeah it was odd. It was fine though, I didn’t think too much of it, but yeah it was funny how it all worked out, that they all came together on that same exact day is pretty odd [laughs].
Your career has come on leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. When starting out were you ambitious? Did you envisage your career would progress in this manner?
You can only look as far as the next job, and not even that sometimes, just focus on what you’re doing at the time and that’s the best way. I mean, I’ve been very lucky with the people I’ve got to work with recently, and it seems that work breeds work because working consistently you learn so much from every job that as soon as one ends, you’re just dying to try whatever you’ve learnt on the next one. It builds your confidence to try new things and it feeds a hunger. I didn’t really envisage this though, I’m just so lucky and grateful to be working as I am at the minute, and hoping to just continue to do so.
In regards to the future, do you have any short term plans about what’s next for you? America, perhaps?
I’d love to, but it’s more about the projects individually rather than America itself. At the moment I feel more suited to and have more of a connection to British films, and stereotypically what British films uphold – but that said, there are so many American films I admire and I’d love to do that. It’s just about trying different methods of working, so I’d love to do some theatre soon as well. Hopefully America will come one day.
So what is next for you – are you working on anything at the moment?
Yeah I did a film called Bypass by Duane Hopkins, who did a film called Better Things, and that was a really brilliant learning experience and I had a great time making that. That comes out next year sometime. At the minute, I’m working on a film called Pride, which is set in 1984 and this group of gay right activists formed a support group for the miners on strike in Wales. They formed a connection and the mining community came and marched for gay pride in 1985, so it’s about two different groups supporting each other’s causes. It’s a lovely ensemble piece and important story, and I’m coming to the end of that at the minute.
Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson is released on November 22nd.
