In a role akin to the likes of Miss Honey from Matilda, Kelly Macdonald plays the incredibly nice Olive in Goodbye Christopher Robin, the nanny of the eponymous protagonist. We had the pleasure of meeting the Scottish actress to mark the film’s release – and thankfully, she was just as affable as the role she inhabited.
We discussed the research she did into this real life woman, and whether she had a female role model equivalent to Olive in her own life. She also speaks about the limitless imagination of children, and comments on some of the accidentally poetic things her own kids have said.
She then goes on to chat about her time spent working closely with Will Tilston (who plays Christopher Robin) and what it is about Winnie the Pooh that still holds such universal resonance. She tells us what her own favourite children’s book was growing up, and her experience shooting Holmes & Watson with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly and just how challenging it is to stop laughing when around those two on set all day.
Watch the full interview below…
Synopsis
After leaving London for the English countryside, writer A.A. Milne starts to spin fanciful yarns about his son’s growing collection of stuffed animals. These stories form the basis for “Winnie-the-Pooh” and “The House at Pooh Corner,” published respectively in 1926 and 1928. Milne and his family soon become swept up in the instant success of the books, while the enchanting tales bring hope and comfort to the rest of postwar England.
Goodbye Christopher Robin is released on September 29th. You can read our review of the film here.
