‘My Police’ Interview: Michael Grandage and Gina McKee

Opening in theaters October 21 and streaming on Prime Video November 4 is the new romantic drama ‘My Policeman,’ from director Michael Grandage.

Set in 1950s Brighton, a gay cop, Tom Burgess (Harry Styles), marries schoolteacher Marion Taylor (Emma Corrin) while in a relationship with Patrick Hazlewood (David Dawson), a museum curator.

The secret they share threatens to destroy them all and continues for decades, with a flash-forward to the late 1990s depicting an older Marion (Gina McKee) now caring for an ailing Patrick (Rupert Everett), against Tom’s (Linus) wishes. Roaches).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Michael Grandage and actress Gina McKee about their work on ‘My Policeman,’ why Grandage wanted to make a film, setting the film in two separate timelines, the pain and regret Marion felt, why she chose to help Patrick, and how McKee worked with actress Emma Corrin to create the character.

You can read the full interview below or click the video player above to watch our interview with directors Michael Grandage and Gina McKee on ‘My Policeman.’

Moviefone: First of all, as a director, what are you excited about this project and what are some of the themes you would like to explore with this film?

Michael Grandage: Well, it’s always great when you think you can bring something from a personal voice to something. I was born in England where this film was made, and the law didn’t change until I was quite young. When that happens, there are years of prejudice that lingers after.

I thought it would be great to be able to do something apart from all the cinematic reasons I wanted, apart from all the thematic reasons, it would also be awesome to make a film that might be a part of it. slightly bigger debate. Because despite all the incredible progress that has been made, which I’m very proud of over the last 40 years by the LGBTQ+ community, I think for now it feels a bit fragile.

I think right now it would be great to have a film in young people’s consciousness that helps them understand a little bit about what it’s like to live in a society where you can’t be free to be yourself. So, for me, and I haven’t even touched on the answer to your question for all the aesthetic and creative reasons, but that’s one of the big reasons why I wanted to make a film that was part of something that I think is important right now.

MF: Can you talk about the challenges of setting the film in two separate timelines?

MG: Yeah, I mean to me, I actually saw it almost like a triple because you can’t help but take your timeline and watch it through the prism of 2022. You watch a movie that takes place 23 years ago in 1999, and then beyond that. On the one hand, you take a short time-travel to the present to see what has changed from society’s point of view. I think it also helps as part of the bigger picture.

But the biggest reason I wanted to do it was because of the fact that I believe that going through 40 years in the film, I think we changed a lot in our personalities in such a period. I want to explore the whole idea of ​​time and memory and what they do and how, sometimes, it feels like just yesterday. The reason we have that phrase is that sometimes it is, and other days it’s not at all.

So, there was a moment when Rupert Everett’s character in the film got his pill from Gina McKee, and he looked over at Gina and in just an instant he saw the younger Marion staring at him. Because that’s what memory sometimes does, that’s how memory works, that’s how time works. But it’s a short fleeting moment, and I think you can only do that if you play with two time periods.

I know I want to use it very quickly, along the way you carry one time period to another. I barely use it at all, but it exists as something unspoken, if you like.

MF: Gina, can you talk about the pain and regret Marion has endured over the years?

Gina McKee: I think that’s a really good starting point because as you probably already know, we meet three people in the 1950s, who are united by love and divided by prejudice. The things they experience with each other and the things they do for and against each other indelibly mark them. So, there are many. All three characters have regrets and of course immense pain. In Marion’s case, the learning curve is massive.

He also has a great sense of responsibility and love. A bond of love unites her with Tom, and they find solace in that love. But I think in the end, the courage to face the past is something that really drew me to this film. What happens when someone like that doesn’t continue to seek refuge, who says, “No, we have to look into this. We have to look at this.” I think it’s an amazing dynamic and in the end for me, a very hopeful thing.

MF: Why did Marion decide to help Patrick, years later, even against Tom’s own wishes?

GM: Since he had to, there was no way forward. They are in a defensive pattern and it cannot continue. You have a woman who is now retired and now or never. So, I think there are many forms of love and I think Marion’s duty to Tom is absolute. Sometimes, the way he interprets assignments is really messed up like you see in the movies.

But that’s the essence of his motivation. Then, what lasts for decades is a chore. It’s a strong bond they have, but it’s a bond about solace rather than moving forward. The elements are very powerful.

MF: Finally, since you played the older version of Marion, did you work at all with Emma Corrin, who played the younger version, to build the connection between the two shows?

GM: Emma Corrin and I, due to COVID protocols, we were unable to physically meet. We are in a separate bubble. But we did talk on the phone. We also had a collective Zoom conversation, which was pretty extensive and very useful. We spoke to Michael Grandage, our director, who was a brilliant channel.

Also, I had the good fortune to see about three or four of her scenes that Emma had already shot, because they shot 1950s stuff first. That is a brilliant resource. I also checked out as much of Emma’s work as I could and learned the elements of how she has an amazing ability to watch and listen, and that shows very much in her work. So, these elements are expected to be absorbed by osmosis. I found them very useful.