Interview: Andy Serkis Goes from Acting to Directing in Bleecker Street’s Breathe

With the trailers for Black Panther and Star Wars: The Last Jedi dropping, and the release of Breathe only days ago, Andy Serkis is having quite a whirlwind of a week. The latter sees Serkis stepping behind the camera to tell the story of Robin Cavendish, a man whose name may not be well known, but after seeing Breathe we understand why his story needs to be told.

While the remake of Disney’s The Jungle Book was in post-production hiatus, Serkis came across the script written by William Nicholson about Cavendish’s life. Moved by the story of his extraordinary achievements, Serkis used the time off to shoot Breathe. The story and film had a personal connection for Serkis. His business partner and longtime friend, Jonathan Cavendish is Robin’s son and Serkis was able to speak to Robin’s wife and widow as well as family friends to help inform his effort to honor Cavendish’s life and accomplishments. More importantly it helped him capture Robin’s spirit and determination to improve his quality of life — and the lives of thousands of others stricken with polio —  despite being paralyzed and confined to a ventilator.

Breathe is a remarkable film that captures the resilience of a man who was told if he left the hospital, his life expectancy would be two weeks. Andrew Garfield plays Robin in the film and gives a performance that’s worthy of an Oscar nomination. It’s the story of a hero who went from considering ending his life to discovering that he could overcome his circumstances, recapture his spirit, and do more with his time on earth than many people who face far fewer hardships.

Breathe had me smiling and crying at the same time. What was so extraordinary, by the end of it I was saying to myself that I should know this story.

I think that’s what so extraordinary is that it is an ordinary person. He wasn’t a celebrity and he wasn’t famed for his actions. He just happened to be an extraordinary story and I loved that we could make a movie about him and who he is and not what he had done.

You’re actually friends with Robin’s son Jonathan Cavendish. How did the story happen for you?

I’m very close to him. He’s my co-founding partner of Imaginarium Studios which is our production entity that we co-founded in 2011 with the view to build a slate of films for me to direct and for him to produce. Very much along the lines of performance capture. We started developing Animal Farm. We already shot The Jungle Book, and as we were assembling the slate of films, there was this script that he brought to the table and I read it one night and just found it so extraordinary. I found it so emotional and I cried so much. William Nicholson wrote this great script and I told Jonathan that even though we were more in the line of me directing animals, I actually wanted to direct this.

We started working on the project and what I responded to the most was the idea that both Robin and Diana were extraordinary pioneers. That scene where she says, “How can I make life better for you?” That point in the ’60s was the equivalent of saying “put me on the moon” or “put me on Mount Everest.” There was this huge gamble where he was prepared to live two minutes from death should the respirator break down in order to feel alive. I thought to myself that this is what a true maverick and true pioneer is. They were breaking out and shattering perceptions about what it is to be severely disabled.

They went on to do that. They weren’t activists, they were just living their lives in such a humble way. The power of that life and connectivity and lust for life that came back to Robin after getting out into the open and being with Diana in their home was such an extraordinary story.

You had access to Jonathan and Diana. What other resources were you able to access?

William Nicholson interviewed so many people. I know Diana so well and she was such a helpful resource. This film is authentic and truthful to their lives. Their families thought it was truthful and not exaggerated at all. People thought they couldn’t have that much humor but in all honesty, that’s exactly what happened. They went into another gear. They opted for life. Almost 40% of the dialogue that you hear is true. Diana did say, “We’re not going to keep him alive for the sake of his friends.” The consultant did tell him he was going to die if he left the hospital.

These people are not ones to show emotion. The humor at the core of the film was their first line of defense. That again really is what is at the center of the film.

You shot this after The Jungle Book?

Yes. We had this hiatus period in post where we managed to raise all the finance and shoot it in seven weeks.

How was that experience for you, going from The Jungle Book to this?

I loved it. I like doing different things at the same time. I was editing The Jungle Book, making Breathe, shooting Star Wars, and Black Panther. I loved the craziness and thrive on it and working in so many arenas.

To focus on a drama and do something with such a tightly woven script with performances that I was able to see in the camera every day and not imagine what they’d look like in eighteen months, that was so rewarding.

All of the cast were there because they adored the power of the story and the script. That included Bob Richardson who read the script and got in touch with us. He’s worked with Scorsese and Tarantino and this was actually the first film he’d ever done with a female character and a love story. He helped me bring a real scale and a beauty to the movie. We wanted to represent Robin and Diana’s energy through every single frame of the way it was shot.

You’ve also worked with so many directors, was there an essential lesson you’ve learned from anyone in particular?

Peter Jackson giving me the opportunity to direct second unit on The Hobbit was a masterclass for me. Working to his vision was something where I’d learn so much every day. I’d always admired him as a director and I loved how he supported drama with the camera, the camera motivation was so pure and centered around great performance. I really did learn a lot from him.

Claire and Andrew had such great chemistry and that’s something you can’t force. How did you find your two leads?

Claire and I had worked together on Little Dorrit. It was her first job and she was extraordinary. I watched her grow and blossom. Before The Crown aired, I saw a trailer and thought she was Diana. I bumped into her at our local park. What I love about her is that she is so straightforward and upfront. She has this great eloquence and her emotions are buttoned down. She had everything to play Diana.

Andrew was a no-brainer. He’s so versatile. He’s so connected to the universe and so truthful. The way he thinks about things is so profound. He has this great charisma and physicality. To rob him of that to play this role gave him the energy to play Robin who was extremely athletic and charismatic before he got polio.

As you say, it’s very rare you see chemistry like that these days. It wasn’t manufactured, they totally trusted and adored each other, so what you see is this true connection.

Was there a particular scene that was hard to shoot?

We had seven weeks so there were many. It was an ambitious film. The hardest was the one on the hillside. We shot for four weeks in the UK and three weeks in South Africa. It was the last day in the UK so it was a pressurized situation where we had a late sunset and we needed to get the shot. The actors were in changes with Andrew in prosthetics, we had little time to shoot it. It was one of those scenes that was so crucial and we all came away thinking we hadn’t got it. The tension actually brought out that amazing performance we got. That was such a tense night, but it turned out we got the scene.

Well, it’s been a crazy week for you with Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Breathe, and today’s Black Panther dropping.

[laughs] It has been so crazy. This year has been a whirlwind and I hope I don’t stop because if I do, I think I’m going to come flying apart.

Breathe is on general release