Interview with co-writer Joe Hampson
Category: InterviewWhat was the genesis of Feel Good - how did you and Mae come together to tell this story?
Mae and I had been friends for years. We lived together for a month in Edinburgh in 2012 and bonded very quickly. I told Mae I had never heard the [Elton John] song Benny and the Jets and she thought it was some elaborate prank. I genuinely hadn’t heard that song. I have since heard the song but I pretend that I haven’t just to be provocative. However, the only bit of the song I can remember is: “B-B-B- Benny and the Jets”.
That has nothing to do with the show, that’s just a story about Benny and the Jets. Anyway, Mae was given a script commission from Channel 4 and asked me if I wanted to co-write it with her. I said yes.
This has been a four-year process - how much time have you spent together producing this show?
Almost every waking minute. Mae and I spent a lot of time together as friends prior to working on the show, and so we just bumped that up to all day, every day.
How has your friendship helped create the show?
Not only do we have a similar sense of humour, we have a shared language as well as shared experiences and frames of reference which means we’re able to share a brain when developing ideas. Being very close allows us to instantly jump from sharing intimate thoughts and feelings to talking about farts which is essential for a writing partnership.
Do you and Mae both write the same characters, or do you both only write particular characters? How would you describe what you bring to the writing process?
We both write all the characters. There are some characters that I think Mae is better at writing, but it doesn’t stop me from putting my inferior dialogue on the page. What do I bring to the process? I love a tight structure, and I push Mae to make the show more juvenile but mostly I just guard the door.
There was a significant rehearsal process prior to the show - how unusual was that and how much did the roles shift and become defined during those rehearsals?
It’s quite unusual. Often you get hardly any rehearsal before turning up on set. It was useful to see what the actors were bringing to the roles. It allowed us to make changes, do little bits of workshopping and graft the characters around the actors.
Is it true you dressed in drag when playing George during the writing stage?
That makes it seemed like I turned up at work in drag because I wasn’t getting enough attention. I just so happened to be dressed in drag at a NYE party and performed a scene from the show upon request. My drag character was called “Siobhan O’Really?” She was not a good-looking woman.
This is a comedy drama in the truest sense, in that it can turn on a dime from very funny to really very emotional. How did you strike that balance?
When writing something funny, have someone break down crying. When writing an emotional scene, have someone poo themselves. Simple.
Although the story is so specific it feels universal and relatable. How did you achieve that?
It’s about love and relationships which is the most universal thing in the world, so it wasn’t that difficult. We just wrote what we thought was funny and sad and interesting and hoped people would feel the same.
When the audience watches Feel Good, what do you hope they take away from the show?
I hope people take away the fact that, despite it being a specific story, these are universal experiences and anyone will be able to recognise themselves in the characters and their relationships.
What are your influences? Did any come to the fore in the making of this series?
Mae and I are constantly talking about TV shows and films and actors and moments from anywhere and everywhere. We might be trying to write a scene set in a shop but end up discussing the scene in The Matrix where Switch turns to Trinity knowing she’s going to die and says: “Not like this… not like this”. Inspiration comes from everywhere. But mostly from Switch.